The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress announced on Friday that the two parties will contest the upcoming Tripura Assembly elections in an alliance, reported PTI.

The Assembly elections in Tripura are scheduled to be held in February or March.

The Congress-CPI(M) alliance marks a notable shift in the state politics as the Communist party had ruled the state for 25 years, with the Congress as main Opposition. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in the last Assembly elections in 2018, while the Trinamool Congress has also gained ground in the state since then.

“A state Congress team will sit with the CPI(M) state secretary to formulate a strategy and finalise the seat sharing,” All India Congress Committee Tripura in-charge, Ajoy Kumar told reporters on Friday, reported PTI. “We will fight together in the Assembly elections.”

Kumar, along with Prashanta Bhattacharjee, the party’s state unit general secretary, visited the CPI(M) Tripura state headquarters in Agartala to initiate seat adjustment discussions with the Left leaders, reported NDTV.

“The number of seats is not important, but defeat of the saffron party [BJP] is the main agenda,” Choudhury told PTI.

The CPI(M) is also in talks with regional party Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance, or TIPRA for a possible alliance in the Assembly elections, reported NDTV.