Kalamchowra Village (Boxanagar), TRIPURA:

Hossain says people of all faiths voted for him, and he will work for everyone; CPI(M) blames Hossain’s 30,000-plus margin victory from Boxanagar, a seat held by it for 25 years, on rigging.

THE BIG Boxanagar victory has ensured that the BJP now has its first ever Muslim MLA in Tripura, Tafajjal Hossain.

The 49-year-old won the seat that had been held by the CPI(M) for the last 25 years by more than 30,000 votes in the Septembe 5 bypoll, making it the biggest-ever victory margin in Tripura.

Hossain had lost to CPI(M) candidate Mohd Shamshul Haque from Boxanagar in the Assembly elections held in February this year, by a narrow margin of 4,849 votes. The BJP reposed its faith in him when Haque’s death necessitated the bypoll. The CPI(M) candidate was Haque’s son Mijan Hossain.

With nearly 80% of the votes cast going to Hossain, the CPI(M) has been claiming large-scale rigging and electoral manipulation.

Dismissing such allegations , Hossain says he will work for people of all faiths in his constituency – Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists or Christians – as everyone had voted for him. “I happen to be the first minority legislator of the BJP in Tripura, but all the voters in my constituency voted for me in large numbers,” Hossain told The Indian Express.

He attributes his win from Boxanagar, a seat either won by the Congress or Left so far, as a factor of people being aware of things now, thanks to smartphones, the Internet and the Modi government’s Digital India campaign. People are reluctant to join pointless movements and agitations now, and are instead interested only in development, he says.

Congress to BJP to giant-killer

Hossain’s political journey is not uncommon in these parts. He used to be a Congress leader, having served as vice-president of the Congress for Sonamura district, and became a member of the Tripura PCC in 2011.

Two years later, Hossain defected to the party. This was around the time Biplab Kumar Deb at the time was leading an aggressive push for the BJP in the state, making it a party to look out for from one that was electorally irrelevant in Tripura. By 2016, Hossain was state secretary of the BJP Minority Morcha.

In 2015, Hossain plunged full-time into politics, passing on his profession of a government contractor for 15 years. Between 2017 and 2018, he served as member of the BJP’s state-level booth formation committee and in-charge of booth verification for Sonamura and Boxanagar mandals (constituency-level committees).

Till last year, Hossain was the BJP’s Sepahijala South district vice-president. Before the 2023 Assembly elections, he was appointed mandal prabhari (in-charge) of Boxanagar, before being named BJP candidate from the same seat.

While he lost the February elections, Hossain’s win came despite the CPI(M) having the advantage of the Congress by its side while the TIPRA Motha did not field a candidate. In February, the Motha candidate had got 3,000-plus votes. Both CPI(M) and Congress leaders campaigned for the Left candidate, but could not make a dent in Hossain’s performance.

High on his victory, Hossain lists his agenda to be providing Boxanagar road connectivity, electricity transmission and services, sufficient teachers in schools and fire brigade services. “During the campaign, Chief Minister Manik Saha promised he would extend his support to all the developmental initiatives I undertake,” he says.

On the top of Hossain’s agenda list is improving schools. A native of Kalamchowra village in Boxanagar, Hossain, who studied up to Class 10, has two school-going children.

Smarting from the poll loss, the CPI(M) said the huge margin of Hossain’s win was questionable. CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhary said: “We won in February by a margin of nearly 5,000 votes. Six months later, we lost by over 30,000 votes. This is ridiculous. Voters were obstructed from going out to vote. There is sufficient evidence of fake voting, which we furnished to the Election Commission, and demanded that the polls be countermanded. But nothing happened.”

Tripura Congress president Ashish Kumar Saha claims rigging and poll violations “on a massive scale”, reducing the by-election to a mockery.

The Motha ironically blames the CPI(M) for the results , accusing the Left of running away from the field in the face of violence during counting. “If a party does not have the courage to fight for the people, backing out at the last moment to leave its own loyal workers to suffer, then why contest? The TIPRA Motha has withstood the pressures of being a party that speaks up for the rights of the indigenous people,” Motha founder and royal scion Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma posted on X, soon after the bypoll results.

Rubbishing the allegations, Hossain says the CPI(M) got the votes it did in February only by creating a “false vibe” that it was going to win, amid rumours that the Motha would align with it. “The BJP dispelled the confusion this time, so people voted wholeheartedly in favour of development, resulting in my massive win.”

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> News> Political Pulse / by Debraj Deb, Agartala / September 12th, 2023