AGARTALA: For the first time in its history, Tripura is witnessing a direct fight between two cadre-based parties - CPM and BJP - for the upcoming assembly election. While the Left has a strong organizational base comprising around 89,000 cadres, BJP has drafted in hundreds of its volunteers from the neighbouring state of Assam to take on CPM. The methods adopted by the cadres of these two parties are, however, a study in stark contrast.The Left's cadre base is home-grown, and it has won the test of time, keeping the red flag flying in the state for decades now. Their methods are very different from that of the BJP, with a firm belief in age-old, conventional ways of holding meetings and processions at the micro level and door-to-door campaigning.BJP's love for technology, on the other hand, is evident in the state and across the country. The main weapons of the cadres of the saffron party are social media platforms where catchy pro-BJP, anti-Left slogans and cartoons bombard the subscribers who are mostly from the younger generation. The party also has a call centre to send out messages and receive feedback from voters.BJP observer for the state Sunil Deodhar minces no words in accepting that the main organizational work of the party in the state took place only three years ago. But the youth and energy of the cadres make up for their lack of experience. "Their (CPM) cadres are old and frustrated, while ours are new and have a spark to bring in change and take the state to new heights of development. This is the first time that CPM is facing another cadre-based party in the state and so it is becoming tougher for them," Deodhar said.He added that BJP has more than 100 registered active members on Facebook and Whatsapp and their total followers on these forums is around 40,000. At Deogarh's rented apartment in Agartala, there are two control rooms, equipped with desktops, printers, scanners with multiple internet connections - a backup measure if one line goes down - which are manned by specialists.Apart from their social media warriors, BJP is also adopting some of its micro-level methods that they have tried in Gujarat. "These cadres are called 'pristha pramukh' (as opposed to 'panna pramukh' as they are known elsewhere), with one man responsible for every page of the electoral roll and his job is to reach out to the 60 voters listed on the page allotted to him," Deodhar said. Tripura's electoral rolls run into 48,000 pages which is a fair estimate of the number of cadres BJP have drafted in this time.But BJP's method of 'e-outreach' appears to lag behind the more orthodox ways practised by the CPM. At chief minister Manik Sarkar 's Dhanpur constituency, much before Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off his campaign on Thursday, CPM cadres had already painted the area red. "CPM cadres have been on the ground campaigning for a year now. They are now on their second round of door-to-door campaigning while people from the BJP are yet to arrive at our doorstep," said Shankar Sarkar, a young voter of Dhanpur.Narayan Debnath, another young voter, seemed to echo him. "Facebook is alive with BJP campaigns but where are the people from the BJP? They all seem invisible and I don't want to believe in someone without at least seeing his face," he said.Left Front convenor and CPM state secretary Bijan Dhar said, "Our cadres are our backbone. There has been some erosion but they (BJP) cannot break our top leadership." Dhar is not unaware of BJP's social media onslaught but prefers to shrug it off as an insignificant factor. "Who are these people who are operating BJP's social media network? Most of them are young boys and girls - still studying or working professionals - who live outside the state. They are the new generation who are educated but do not know much about their state's past history," Dhar added.

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