Karat acquires Tripura muscle

AGARTALA: The Left Front stormed back to power for the fourth consecutive time in Tripura securing a three-fourths majority in the 60-member assembly.

With all the results in, CPM, the dominant partner, gained three-fourths majority on its own, bagging 46 seats ,while allies RSP pocketed two seats and the CPI one.

The Congress was routed winning only ten seats and its partner Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) had to remain content with a single seat.

INTP���s consolation victory came when its president Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhwal scraped through by 115 votes in Hrishyamukh constituency.

Chief Minister Manik Sarkar(CPM) romped home from Dhanpur constituency defeating his nearest rival by 2,900 votes.

In Kolkata, West Bengal CPM Secretary Biman Bose, hailing the Left Front���s landslide victory, said the verdict was a lesson to the Congress for ���trying to divide tribals and non-tribals.���
Prominent Front winners were Finance Minister Badal Chowdhury (CPM) who retained the Hrishyamukh seat by a margin of 7761 votes and Labour Minister Faizur Rahman who won from Kurti.

Other CPM winners included Bijita Nath (Kadamtala seat), Amitava Dutta (Dharmanagar), Samir Deb Sarkar (Khowai) and Daniel Jamatia (Ampinagar).

RSP���s Joygobinda Deb Roy retained the Radhakishorepur seat defeating Congress��� Pranjit Singharoy by 312 votes.

The Left Front added eight more seats to its kitty when compared to its 2003 tally. Forward Bloc, which quit the front in a huff over seat-sharing, did not win even a single seat in a repeat of the 2003 elections.

The Congress won three seats less than in the earlier election, while its ally Indigenous Nationalist Party wound up with one from the six it held earlier.

The only CPI(M) minister who lost was Bijoylakhasmi Sinha, who held the Social Welfare portfolio. Deputy Speaker Subol Rudra also lost his Sonamura seat to Congress candidate.

LF ally and RSP candidate Joygobinda Deb Roy retained the Radhakishorepur seat defeating Congress��� Pranjit Singharoy by 312 votes. TPCC president Samir Ranjan Burman was defeated in Bisalgarh.