‘Religious groups campaigned against the Left in Tripura`

Agartala: For the first time in Tripura, religious groups acted against the Left parties in the Feb 14 assembly polls, CPI-M leaders claimed here Wednesday after the party`s two-day election review meeting.

"Some religious organisations, including Christian groups, RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) and Hindu missionaries have campaigned against the Left parties during the election," Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) state secretary Bijon Dhar told reporters. "Such trends of using religion in elections are dangerous for the country as well as for the state. These have happened for the first time in Tripura," he said. Senior CPI-M leader and editor of party mouthpiece "Daily Desher Katha" Gautam Das said, "Outlawed militant outfits were also active in three subs-divisions - Kanchanpur, Longtharai Valley and Gandachara - all in northern Tripura, before and during the elections. But due to the alertness of the people and security forces, they could not do anything violent." The CPI-M held a two-day summit here Sunday and Monday, and analysed the party`s performance and other aspects in the Feb 14 polls to the 60-seat Tripura assembly. In the elections, the CPI-M led Left Front won power for the seventh time, entering office for a fifth consecutive term after securing a landslide victory, winning 50 of the 60 seats in the assembly. The Congress managed only 10 seats. "We are not satisfied with these results. Despite our massive developmental drive, job opportunities and pro-people steps, our seats did not increase as expected. We should have secured four to five more seats," Dhar said. He said that some internal party sabotage may have caused loss of some seats. "The party has instituted a commission to probe these sabotages, and two party leaders were suspended for three months for these reasons," he said. Offering details of the party`s internal poll analysis, Dhar said that the Left Front has managed to increase its vote share, compared to the 2008 assembly elections. He said the vote percentage has increased by 1.14 percent, and altogether 1,89,593 more people has voted this year, compared to the votes cast five years ago. "Compared to male voters, two percent more women have cast their votes in favour of the Left parties` candidates," the CPI-M Tripura unit chief said. He said that during the elections, the Congress showed poor results in areas where Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi campaigned. "The people of Tripura have straight away rejected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi`s appeal to oust the Left and instead voted tremendously for the Left Front the fifth time in a row," the Left leader said. IANS