Tripura West Lok Sabha constituency, one of two constituencies for the Lower House in Tripura, had a long history of a direct fight between Congress and the Communist Party of India (CPI) but a surprise victory of Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Pratima Bhoummik in the Lok Sabha elections 2019 changed the political scenario in the state. In the last Lok Sabha elections, Bhoumik defeated Congress candidate Subal Bhowmik with a victory margin of 3,05,689 votes, securing 5,73,532 votes.
The Left which was defeated by the BJP in the assembly elections in 2018 and 2023 had decided to support Congress candidates to consolidate anti-BJP votes as a part of I.N.D.I.A bloc.
Tripura West Lok Sabha constituency is set to witness one of the high-profile contests in the 2024 elections as the BJP fielded former chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb to take on Congress’ state president Asish Kumar Saha.
Of the total 14.61 lakh electors, West Tripura Lok Sabha constituency has a sizable number of tribal and minority voters apart from Bengalis.
History of being a swing seat
Tripura West Lok Sabha constituency has been a swing seat till 1991. The people of the constituency constantly voted for CPI and Congress in a rotational way but between 1996 to 2019, CPI paused the trend. In 2019, the BJP surprised traditional players - Congress and CPI - in the constitution and won the seat. In this election, Congress and the Left came together to wrest the seat from the BJP.
BJP's prospects in Tripura West
This time, the BJP did not give Bhoummik a ticket and chose Deb as the party’s candidate. Deb had led the BJP to form its government in the state in 2018 by winning 38 seats in the 60-member assembly. But, he was denied a ticket to contest the last year’s assembly elections. In last year’s by-polls to two assembly seats, Dhanpur and Boxanagar, the BJP had emerged victorious, amid large-scale rigging allegations by the CPI(M).
Congress-CPI's chance in the constituency
On the other side, Left-supported Congress candidate Asish Kumar Saha has been working to consolidate the anti-BJP vote bank to reverse the electoral fortunes.
Tripura has another Lok Sabha seat- East Tripura. Elections to two constituencies will be held on April 19 and 26.
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