Tripura Congress wants alliance with Trinamool, tribal parties

Agartala: Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) has taken an initiative to forge an alliance with indigenous political parties like INPT, NCT and Trinamool Congress ahead of next assembly election to fight against the Left Front and BJP, said Congress legislative party leader Gopal Roy here today. He said, “The Left Front is the main rival of Congress and now BJP has emerged as opposition, people still believes in Congress. We are thinking of uniting with Trinamool Congress and other indigenous political parties against the Left Front in the coming elections though official talks have been made in this regard.” With the defection of six Congress MLAs to BJP, Trinamool Congress slipped from the main opposition to ‘nowhere.’ While the Left Front is considering the BJP as a threat in the upcoming elections, it is also keeping a keen eye on the Trinamool Congress which is on its way to rejuvenate the party. However, Trinamool Congress vice president Dulal Das said that the party is undecided about forging alliance with the Congress as the party is now focusing to make the organisation strong. Regarding alliance, he threw the ball into the party head’s court and said,” Mamatadidi and Sonia Gandhi will take final decision. We would follow our supremo’s advice,” he said. On the other, INPT President Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhwal said, “BJP is in power in Centre and so many states. We do feel uneasy over the bluster and rhetoric of state BJP leaders about going it alone for the assembly polls but still we are in touch with them”. Whether any seat adjustment with BJP will finally materialize is a different matter but we will seek to know from them what they plan to do to ensure overall development of backward tribal communities and the precise definition of their concept of ‘State Council’. BJP is yet to come out with its vision paper and manifesto which alone can put contentious issues in perspective. UNI