Ahead of the Assembly elections in Tripura, the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) has decided to walk out of the Left Front in the state, bringing the simmering discontent among the Left parties to a head.Despite an intervention from CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat, the AIFB stuck to its stand on Friday, saying it will contest alone in 15 out of the 60 Assembly seats. However, the CPI(M) is still engaged in a firefighting exercise, with its Bengal leaders opening a dialogue channel with the state leadership of the AIFB. The AIFB has been arguing that the CPI(M) should allot at least 10 per cent of the total seats to the allies. The other Left allies, CPI and RSP, have been contesting in two seats each and the AIFB in one seat. The AIFB calculation was that it would bargain for three and settle for two. A party source said the Bordowali Urban Town constituency has been witness to a see-saw contest, and in the last elections, the AIFB candidate lost to the state unit chief of the Congress party. The final talks between AIFB secretary Shyamal Das and Left Front state convenor Khagen Das, over seat-sharing, ended without any results, though CPI(M) suggested that they would consider the AIFB demand for more seats in the next election.“The CPI(M) is not serious on keeping the Left unity intact. So, we have decided to go it alone in the Assembly election,” AIFB national secretary G Devarajan told The Indian Express. Despite Karat talking to AIFB General Secretary Debabrata Biswas, explaining that the demand for more seats would be considered in the next elections, the ice was not broken. The AIFB has been contesting in one seat since 1978. And the CPI(M) finds the demand for three seats “unreasonable” and points out that the other two Front partners, CPI and RSP are with them. The AIFB sources claimed that they have some 2 to 3 per cent votes in the state, and if they did not cooperate, the CPI(M) can lose 6 to 7 seats in the state. Though last-ditch efforts are on to save the Front unity, the chances of a breakthrough remains highly unlikely.
