CPI (M)’s Jitendra Chaudhury likely to be appointed Leader of the Opposition in Tripura   

The opposition CPI(M legislature party leader Jitendra Chaudhury is likely to be appointed Leader of the Opposition (LoP) of the Tripura assembly by Speaker Biswabandhu Sen on Wednesday.

State assembly sources on Tuesday said that the Assembly speaker invited Chaudhury to discuss the LoP related issue on Wednesday and then Sen would likely appoint the Left leader as the opposition leader.

The post of LoP was lying vacant after former opposition leader and Tipra Motha MLA Animesh Debbarma quit the post before he became the cabinet minister on March 7.

Animesh Debbarma and another Motha MLA Brishaketu Debbarma became ministers on March 7 after the Tipra-Motha led by former royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarma decided to join the BJP led coalition government on March 2, when the tribal based party signed a tripartite agreement with the Center and the Tripura government in New Delhi in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha and others.

In the last year’s February 16 assembly polls, the Tipra-Motha won 13 seats and became the second largest party after the ruling BJP, which won 32 seats while its ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) secured one seat.

The CPI(M), which contested the last year’s assembly poll in a seat sharing adjustment with the Congress, managed 11 seats and the Congress bagged three.

However, CPI(M) MLA from Muslim-dominated Boxanagar Assembly seat Samsul Haque died on July 19 last year following a cardiac attack and in the September 5 (2023) by elections to the seat BJP wrested the seat for the first time. 

With the victory in the Boxanagar seat, the BJP’s tally increased to 33 in the 60-member assembly while CPI(M)’s strength went down from 11 to 10.