Tripura stays bright red with fifth consecutive term for Left

NDTV; Edited by Ashish Mukherjee | Updated: February 28, 2013 14:33 IST

New Delhi:  Tripura, Meghalaya, and Nagaland have all voted against change. Results for the three states - with 60 assembly seats each - are being counted now.

Here's your 10-point cheat-sheet to the elections:

1.     Tripura: The CPM is set to sweep the state for a fifth consecutive term. 64-year-old Manik Sarkar will return as chief minister for a fourth term.

2.     Tripura: The Chief Minister of Tripura is seen as a very honest man; he is known to have a bank balance lower than that of any other chief minister in the country.

3.     Tripura: The big complaint against the Left in Tripura has been the high rate of unemployment stemming from the fact that there is no major industry in the state.

4.     Tripura: The Left Front has been in power since 1978, barring one term during 1988 to 1993.

5.     Tripura: In the last election in 2008, the CPM and its allies won 49 of the 60 seats in the Assembly. The Congress and its allies won 11.

6.     Tripura: The state had record voter turnout of 93% for these elections.

7.     Meghalaya: The ruling Congress-led alliance with the United Democratic Party or UDP is set to return to power. Former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma, who formed his own party after quitting Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party or NCP, appears to have been routed.

8.     Nagaland: Congress defeated. Neiphiu Rio of the Naga People's Front or NPF appears poised to return as Chief Minister in an election marred by allegations of use of money power. Mr Rio's home minister Imkong L Imchen was among several senior politicians allegedly caught with over a crore of rupees and even arms.

9.     Nagaland: The main election issue was the integration of Naga-dominated regions. A bloody insurgency had raged on the issue for over 30 years, and many people died, till insurgent outfits in the state signed ceasefire agreements with the Centre starting 1996. But no permanent solution has been found yet.

10.   Nagaland: Corruption and the paucity of development were highlighted as concerns by voters. Even basic roads remain on a wishlist for the state.

Tripura: Red carpet for Left again, Cong's call for change ignored

Tripura has once again shown communism matters in India. 

This 10,491 sq km state wedged into Bangladesh has also

 reaffirmed its faith in a 'homeless' chief minister.

The Congress had borrowed Trinamool Congress' slogan of 

'poriborton' (change) to push for the end of .........

SEE MORE:

Tripura: Red carpet for Left again, Cong's call for change ignored - Hindustan Times

‘NO false Promises’: MANIK SARKAR

INTERVIEW - MANIK SARKAR

My goals are clear: the people’s quality of life must be improved. Within the limitations of a state government we try to ensure that. There is no room for complacency. I work for development, not for raising per capita income (although our per capita income in the Tenth Plan was Rs 29,081, it is now Rs 50,000). A lot of work remains to be done. Ameliorating the problems of the electorate is possible only if the government at the Centre helps. The Centre has been apathetic to us but I aim for the sky, taking one milestone at a time. Regarding my party’s priorities, the manifesto underlines connectivity, improvement and modernisation. We started with minus-zero, when we took over from the Congress. A lot has been achieved in the farm sector. Infrastructure has to be developed and the purchasing capacity increased. We have to aim for industrialisation and improved telecommunication. Tripura must register healthy growth and a self-sufficient economy.

READ MORE ON:

‘NO false Promises’

Ours is a government for the poor: Manik Sarkar

In an exclusive interview with India Today Assistant Editor Kaushik Deka, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar talks about his party's prospects in2013 Assembly polls, Opposition Congress's link with underground elements and change of his trademark dress-white kurta pyjama.

Q. So, how many seats do you expect in the polls?
A.Can't tell you exact number but we expect the tally to go up since last polls. The vote share will also increase.

Q. You mean to say the Left Front will win over 49 seats?
A.We hope so. We will know on February 28.

Q. In your election rallies, you have stayed away from talking about your government's achievements. Instead, you are attacking the Congress alleging that the party has a nexus with underground elements.
A.My people know what my government has done for them. So I don't want to blow my own trumpet. But it's my duty to remind the young generation what successive Congress governments did to the state. They nurtured underground elements and even now have links with Bangladesh-based terror groups. During the Congress regime, Tripura was known for murder, extortion and violence. Last month, the brother of the Congress president was arrested by Assam Rifles and weapons, foreign currencies and letterheads of banned organisations were found in his possession. Now the Congress has teamed up with INPT, which is headed by a former terrorist who made an anti-India remark at Geneva in 1998. The Left Front government has brought back peace and development to the state. When we took over in 1998, in Bangladesh, there were 52 terror camps belonging to groups active in the state. The number has come down to 19 now.

Read more at:http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/ours-is-a-government-for-the-poor-tripura-chief-minister-manik-sarkar/1/249288.html

Ours is a government for the poor: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar : East, News - India Today