Tafajjal Hossain of Tripura achieved on September 8 what Aminul Haque Laskar of Assam did in 2016 — he became the only Muslim MLA of the Bharatiya Janata Party in a north-eastern State. In keeping with the “tradition” of a party or alliance ruling at the Centre winning State polls or bypolls in a region largely dependent on central funds, Mr. Hossain won from the Muslim-dominated Boxanagar Assembly constituency. His victory also put the spotlight on the alleged practice of manipulating electoral outcomes.
Mr. Laskar went on to become the Deputy Speaker in the Assam Assembly after creating history by winning the Sonai seat in Barak Valley in 2016 and becoming the only Muslim face of the BJP-led alliance. Five years later, he lost Sonai to the All India United Democratic Front’s Karim Uddin Barbhuiya. The increasing religious divide and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s assertion that the BJP does not need Muslim votes were said to be the prime factors behind his defeat.
Religious polarisation in Bengali-majority Tripura is not as marked as it is in Assam, where Bengali-speaking Muslims are often viewed as Bangladeshis. Tripura’s Muslims hardly face the ‘Bangladeshi’ taunt due to the State’s historic ties with Dhaka. But they are perceived to stand behind the Left Front and Congress due to aggressive Hindutva politics. Mr. Hossain’s win from Boxanagar, as Chief Minister Manik Saha claimed, has changed the narrative that the Muslims and the BJP distrust each other.
