The Left Front government has been in power in the state for the past 25 years and just the possibility of change seems exciting to many young people.
Agartala: In what is perhaps the first direct electoral fight between the Left and the Right in the country, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s aggressive ‘chalo paltai (let’s flip it)’ campaign in Tripura has managed to seduce the state’s sizeable young electorate with the promise of jobs, free smartphones and ‘poriborton (change)’. Opinions are sharply split as the Communist Party of India (Marxist) seems to have found its match in cadre-based organising for the first time.
Tripura has 3.6 million people spread across 60 constituencies, with a growing population of literate but unemployed youth. Ironically, it tops the list of Indian states in both literacy and unemployment rates. In multiple interviews with The Wire across the state, many young and first-time voters said that they have seen CPI(M) rule all their lives and are willing to give the BJP a chance, while many others appreciated chief minister Manik Sarkar for maintaining peace in the state and ensuring at least basic social security for all.
Infrastructure and employment main poll agendas
Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah have attacked Sarkar for failing to adequately tackle poverty and unemployment; 19.7% of people in Tripura are unemployed. As is the story in most of the region, the government is the largest employer but jobs created fall way short of demand.
“I voted for the Left in the last election but will go with the BJP this time, we need change. The CPI(M) has siphoned off money from MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and favours party members in government jobs, we are tired of them now,” said 26-year-old Nitai Malakar from Agartala. “If Kerala is considered a model state and changes government every five years, why can’t we do that here?” he added.
The Left Front government has been in power in the state for the past 25 years and just the possibility of change seems exciting to many young people.
There have been widespread allegations of favouritism in government jobs and the state is yet to fully implement the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations. Apart from this, MGNREGA jobs have failed to create rural assets, and private jobs are scarce as there are no major industries in the state. The government’s promotion of rubber plantations in rural Tripura and agricultural subsidies have significantly increased household incomes in the region, but agro-based industries have not been encouraged.
The Sarkar government’s own economic review for 2015-16 has described the challenges:
“The state’s economy is characterized by high incidence of poverty, low per capita income, low capital formation, inadequate infrastructural facilities and geographical isolation and communication bottleneck, low progress in industrial field as well as high un-employment problem. On the other hand, low availability of infrastructure has made the process of economic development extremely difficult in the backward state of Tripura.”
While the BJP has accused Sarkar of negligence and incompetence, the chief minister in an interview to The Wire said that the Central government is trying to put roadblocks in the development of the state. He also hit back at Modi, saying he made ‘false promises’ of creating two crore jobs every year in 2014 and that the problem of unemployment is not peculiar to Tripura.
“Unemployment is a national burning programme. They are posing all this as if India is free from unemployment, and the only unemployment problem is in Tripura. Is this fair? Can anybody show a single instance that this district is there in India which is free from unemployment? Not a single district,” he said.
With better mobile connectivity, internet access and social media penetration, young people are now exposed to unfiltered information from across the country.
“I have seen videos on Facebook exposing the CPI(M), they didn’t want us to know but it’s all out there now. Their corruption is now being reported in the national media and through RTIs, I can show you on Facebook,” said 27-year-old Somnath Datta, who works at a stationery shop in Agartala. On being asked if he would vote for the BJP because of Modi, he said it didn’t matter to him and he would have gone with any alternative to the Left Front.
While the electorate is sharply polarised between the two parties, many feel that it would be a mistake to judge support for the BJP on the basis of the headcount at their events, as many ‘silent voters’ will eventually vote for CPI(M).
“We are happy with Manik Sarkar, he is a very honest man and has worked for the poor. You won’t find even one beggar in the city and even the villages. Lack of industries is a problem but now that we have rail connectivity and a new route connecting us to Kolkata through Bangladesh, it will help bring more industries,” a 27-year-old voter who requested anonymity told The Wire.
When asked if he would attend Modi’s event, he said he has been waiting for it, “I like Modi, he is very good for the country but here we don’t want BJP as most of the candidates are former Congress members who joined TMC and then the BJP.”
Also read
-
Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty interviews Sunil Deodhar, the man behind the BJP’s campaign in Tripura
-
How is the Left responding to the BJP’s campaign? Manik Sarkar explains in this interview
-
CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali argues that the saffron party’s moves are a reminder of more violent times in the state
Tribal discontent
BJP’s alliance with the N.C. Debbarma-led Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) hasn’t gone down well with urban Bengali youth, as the IPFT has been demanding a separate Twipraland for the tribals.
Though the BJP has said that they won’t give them a separate state, the IPFT has been clear that they also won’t back down from their core demand. Sarkar calls this ‘an unholy alliance’ and the CPI(M) has alleged that the BJP is engaging in doublespeak, promising a separate state in tribal areas but speaking against it in Bengali-dominated Agartala. This has been a cause of worry as urban young voters fear the return of insurgency. The Left Front government has been credited with successfully maintaining peace and lifting the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from the state.
Many tribal youths allege that they have not been given due attention and are supporting the BJP-IPFT alliance to change this. “The government has built schools here but the teachers are not sincere, I have to send my two children to Agartala, which is more than 25 km away, for school and tuition,” Noloni Debbarma from Ramshankar para village told The Wire.
“The CPI(M) has neglected the ADC (Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council) area. We don’t have proper food supply, hospitals, education or jobs. The teachers are not regular in schools and there are no jobs even for educated youth. I am forced to sell chicken for a living,” added 30-year-old Ripon Debbarma from Hezamara in West Tripura.
“I want to study further but can’t afford the daily commute to Agartala as my family is financially weak. There are no colleges in tribal areas. My brothers couldn’t find any jobs after graduating and the government hasn’t provided any source of income to us. We have no money; how can I afford Rs. 150 every day to go to the university for MA classes?” said Jitesh Debbarma from Behalabari village of Khowai district.
While there is widespread disillusionment with the Left Front government, many voters are wary of going with the BJP as well. “Our friends in Assam and Manipur tell us that the BJP made similar promises to them but hasn’t implemented the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations or increased MGNREGA pay. If they haven’t done it there, I doubt they’ll do it here. They would promise anything to win elections,” says 27-year-old Jhutan Laskar, who drives an auto rickshaw in Agartala.
Political observers in the state feel that the BJP will become the primary opposition, with significant support from aspirational young voters. “It is true that the Left Front has indulged in favouritism in government jobs and hasn’t significantly improved infrastructure. Most of our students go to Kolkata to get a BEd degree after graduating – teaching is the most lucrative job here. While I personally don’t see any substantial measures in BJP’s vision document, they have managed to sell dreams to the young,” said an associate professor at the department of political science of Tripura University.