Just week before the announcement of poll schedules for Tripura, the  crucial state committee meeting of the opposition CPI(M) started on Tuesday morning in Agartala in presence  of party’s general secretary Sitaram Yechury and party’s polit bureau members Prakash Karat and Manik Sarkar to finalize their poll strategy.

On Monday, two veteran leaders of CPI (M) Sitaram Yechury and Prakash Karat arrived in the city and they participated in the one-day state committee meeting, which ended in the evening.

While, before beginning of the meeting, CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chowdhury speaking with media persons said that during the daylong meeting, party leaders will review the preparation of the party for ensuing assembly elections and will also finalize the issues, which will be their election agenda against BJP government.

He said that the state committee meeting will also detail discussion over the organizational matter of the party, but did not disclose anything in details over the possible alliance with Congress. Chowdhury said that party’s general secretary Yechury will address a press conference on Wednesday morning and will share in details before the media.

 Sources said that all the state committee members including party’s state secretary Jitendra Chowdhury , opposition leader Manik Sarkar and other veteran leaders were also participated in the meeting and had also discussion for selection of candidates and overall final resolution for a possible alliance with other like minded parties including Congress and with other regional parties.

Meanwhile, Congress keen on having an electoral understanding with the CPI (M) for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state, Congress in-charge of Tripura and senior AICC  secretary Ajoy Kumar on Sunday met CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury. However, any decision is expected only at the end of the CPI(M)‘s state committee meeting which will conclude on Tuesday.

The core idea of this alliance is that there should be no division of the anti-BJP votes. The anti-incumbency against the BJP government has been growing and change of the Chief Minister midway through the term cannot reverse it, said a Congress leader.

In the 2018 Assembly elections, BJP had got 36 seats, cornering nearly 44% of votes. CPI(M), which had ruled the State for 25 years, got only 16 seats, though they too got 42% of votes. Congress couldn’t get any  seat and got less than 2% votes.

At the same time, sources do not rule out the possibility of a tactical understanding with TIPRA Motha, leaving a few seats in the tribal belt for the party.