BY TC News Desk
Agartala, 13th March 2026: Leader of the Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury today said that any discussion on seat adjustment between the CPI(M) and the Congress in the upcoming elections to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council would arise only if the Congress manages to save its security deposit in at least one of the 28 seats.
Speaking to media personnel here, Chaudhury launched a sharp attack on Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman in response to his remarks regarding the Dharmanagar by-election. Roy Barman had earlier alleged that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) lacks sincerity in its efforts to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party and suggested that the CPI(M) should withdraw its candidate from the Dharmanagar seat.
Reacting to the statement, Chaudhury challenged the Congress to prove its strength in the ADC areas by saving its security deposit in at least one of the 28 seats. Only then, he said, would the question of a seat adjustment between the two parties become relevant.
He alleged that the Congress lacks both votes and organizational presence in many areas of the state, including Dharmanagar. According to him, the party’s grassroots structure in the constituency is extremely weak.
While acknowledging that the Indian National Congress is a major national political party and plays an important role in strengthening democracy in the country, Chaudhury said it is unrealistic for the party to contest every seat in Tripura.
Referring to the last Assembly elections, he claimed that the Congress could not even deploy polling agents in any booth in the Dharmanagar constituency, and it was the CPI(M) that had to provide polling agents there.
