Not concerned with exit poll verdict; confident of victory in Tripura: CPI(M)

Veteran communist leader Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy on Wednesday expressed doubts over the two exit polls which predicted the BJP's win in Tripura elections, and said the Left front is confident of returning to power.

Noting that some exit polls after the last Assembly elections in Bihar and Delhi had gone awry, the CPI general secretary said he has his own doubts about the latest ones on the north eastern state's poll.

He pointed out that one exit poll has given the BJP-IPFT alliance a vote share of 51 per cent, while another has given the ruling Left front 45-46 per cent, terming the difference in percentage "a little".

Reddy also said that the C-Voter exit poll has given the "advantage" to the Left front.

The C-Voter exit poll has predicted a close finish in Tripura, with the CPI-M likely to get 26 to 34 seats with 44.3 per cent vote share, the BJP and its allies to get 24 to 32 seats with a vote share of 42.8 per cent, while the Congress may win only around two seats with a vote share of 7.2 per cent.

"I don't think that the BJP can win in Tripura. We are very confident the Left will win," Reddy said.

"Yes, it's possible some sort of an anti-incumbency in some sections may be there but most of the people are happy and satisfied with the government," he said.

On February 18, voting was held in 59 of the total 60 seats in Tripura Assembly.

The polling could not be held in the Charilam constituency due to the death of CPI(M) candidate Ramendra Narayan Deb Barma earlier this month. The constituency will go to polls on March 12.

The BJP, hitherto an "also-ran" in the north-eastern state, is making a determined bid to demolish the red bastion of 25 years, with stalwarts like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah leading the charge.

The saffron party, which had forged a pre-poll alliance with the tribal outfit Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), had fielded 51 candidates. The IPFT, an anti-Left party, contested from the remaining nine seats.

The Congress went it all alone in Tripura this time and contested from 59 seats. The party had not fielded a candidate from the Kakrabon constituency in Gomati district.