Former Tripura Chief Minister and CPI(M) politburo member Manik Sarkar said on Tuesday that the upcoming Lok Sabha elections will be a battle between the BJP-led NDA and the people of India.

Addressing an election rally in support of the INDIA bloc candidates here on Tuesday, Sarkar said it was essential to change the government in Tripura in 2018 so that the people could compare the quality of governance between the previous Left Front and the current BJP regime.

In 2018, the BJP ousted the CPI(M)-led Left Front government headed by Sarkar after it ruled Tripura for 25 consecutive years (1993-2018).

The veteran Left leader also said that during the six years of BJP rule, the experience of the people of Tripura has been horrific.

“Since the BJP came to power in 2018, no elections in the state were held properly as many people could not even cast their votes. Last year, the Tipra Motha, which was in the opposition for the Assembly elections, put up 42 candidates both in the tribal reserved and general seats, and due to a division of votes, the BJP came to power for the second term,” Sarkar said.

Sarkar also criticized the BJP for its alleged ‘misrule’, saying that poverty, unemployment, poor wages for workers, and privatization of education, power, and health sectors are prevalent in the country as well as in Tripura and that's why the BJP must be voted out.

Two Lok Sabha seats in the state -- Tripura West and Tripura East -- will go to the polls on April 19 and 26, respectively. The results will be out on June 4.

While the Congress has fielded its state unit chief Ashish Kumar Saha from Tripura West against BJP nominee and ex-Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, former CPI(M) MLA Rajendra Reang will contest the polls against BJP’s Kriti Devi Debbarma in the Tripura East constituency.