Agartala, Dec. 29 (PTI): Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha claimed that people of the state do not like the closeness of the CPI(M) and the Congress ahead of the assembly elections, maintaining that the BJP will have an edge over the two opposition parties.
Saha's assertion came a day after six opposition parties, including the CPI(M) and the Congress, issued a joint statement asking the "peace -loving" people of the Northeastern state to raise their voices in favour of restoration of democracy, re-establishment of the rule of law and conducting a free and fair election.
The BJP-IPFT alliance had swept the 2018 assembly elections, winning a two-third majority in the 60-member House, ending the 25-year-long Left rule in the state.
"It is an opportunist understanding. Earlier, the love between the two parties (CPI(M) and Congress) was a secret affair and now it came to the fore. People are not taking it positively," Saha said on Wednesday.
The CPI(M) and the Congress have not learnt a lesson from West Bengal where they had contested polls jointly against the Trinamool Congress but could not make any mark, he said.
The joint statement was signed by leaders of five Left parties -- the CPI(M), Forward Bloc, CPI, RSP and the CPI(ML) -- and the Congress.
CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Choudhury had claimed that Tipra Motha president Pradyot Kishore Manikya has broadly endorsed the views expressed in the joint statement but he could not sign it as he is out of the state now.
"The people will reject the opportunist understanding in the election," Saha said.
AICC general secretary Ajay Kumar, who arrived here on Wednesday, claimed that people are fed up with the BJP and want to come on a common platform.