Reported by: Mrinal Banik

Agartala: The efforts to put up a joint fight against the BJP as a united opposition, at least in the Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC), the largest civic body in Tripura and the state’s only municipal corporation, seem to have run into fresh deadlocks, with the Congress on Wednesday announcing candidates for as many as 49 of the corporation’s 51 wards.

After contesting elections separately on a number of occasions since the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the INDIA bloc constituents were apparently trying to set aside their differences to bring opposition unity to the centre stage amid the politically charged atmosphere surrounding the civic elections.

The Congress and the CPI(M) are considered the two bigger constituents of the opposition bloc in Tripura, while some smaller and marginal parties are also part of the alliance.

The Left Front had abstained from fielding candidates in as many as 26 AMC wards, keeping the channels for communication and negotiations on seat-sharing open.

However, the Congress party’s move to field candidates in 49 of the 51 wards has sent out a strong message that the opposition may not be keen to contest the elections as a united front.

The Congress announced its candidate list, signed by Tripura Pradesh Congress president Asish Kumar Saha, on Wednesday. The party has not named candidates for wards 30 and 35, stating that their names would be announced later.

The development comes two days after Leader of the Opposition and CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury said seat-sharing negotiations between the Left Front and the Congress had made considerable progress, with the two parties reaching an understanding on 26 wards.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Chaudhury had said Left Front candidates were filing nomination papers in the 26 wards where an agreement had been reached, while discussions with the Congress were continuing to finalise arrangements for the remaining seats.

Of the remaining 25 wards, the Left Front would contest a few, while the Congress was likely to field candidates in most of them, he had said. Chaudhury had also indicated that a final decision was expected within the next one or two days after Congress leaders returned from Delhi.

He had said the proposed understanding was not confined to the AMC elections, as the Left Front and the Congress were also planning to coordinate their efforts in elections to other municipal councils across Tripura.

Outlining the issues the opposition alliance intended to raise during the campaign, Chaudhury had identified the restoration of democracy, the fight against corruption and the provision of proper civic services for ordinary people as its main priorities.

He had also alleged that the ruling party’s concept of development was largely confined to the construction of five- and six-storey houses for ministers, political leaders and party workers, an increase in bank deposits and the purchase of expensive vehicles. He claimed ordinary people had not benefited from such a model of development.

The Congress’s decision to announce candidates in 49 wards has now raised questions over the possibility of the two principal opposition parties reaching a common understanding for the AMC elections.

There was no immediate response from the Left Front leadership on the latest development.