Reported by: Mrinal Banik
Agartala: The Tripura unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday held a high-level meeting at the State Guest House to review preparations for the forthcoming urban local body elections and discuss the rollout of seven political programmes and campaigns in line with directions from the party’s central leadership.
Chief Minister Manik Saha, former chief minister and West Tripura MP Biplab Kumar Deb, state BJP president Abhishek Debroy, cabinet ministers, MLAs and leaders of various party wings attended the meeting.
BJP organisational general secretary for Assam and Tripura Rabindra Raju and the party’s newly appointed Tripura in-charge Mriganka Deo Barman were also present.
Speaking to reporters, Saha said the discussions focused on preparations for the civic polls and the implementation of programmes planned by the party’s central leadership.
Deb said the party had decided to undertake seven political programmes in phases across Tripura. He alleged that opposition parties were attempting to weaken democratic institutions through their campaign against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
“The appropriate remedy for troublemakers will be prepared through discussions,” Deb said, accusing the communists of attempting to undermine the country’s democratic institutions. He said the proposed campaigns would include foot marches, interactions with young voters and press conferences in different parts of the state. The state leadership would announce the detailed schedule, he added.
Meanwhile, Debroy expressed confidence that the BJP would win all municipal corporations, municipal councils and nagar panchayats in the forthcoming urban local body elections.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, he said preparations were under way and the party’s candidate list would be announced shortly, although he did not specify a date.
“We are 100 per cent confident of victory,” Debroy said, attributing the party’s confidence to development initiatives undertaken by the state government under Saha.
He referred to development work in Agartala, Udaipur and Dharmanagar, besides proposed initiatives in Khowai. He also highlighted road connectivity and national highway projects, acknowledging that some infrastructure work remained incomplete and would take time to finish.
On the SIR exercise, Debroy described electoral roll revision as a constitutional process and accused the Congress and the communists of misleading people for political gain.
Referring to revisions undertaken during previous Congress and communist governments, he said the BJP would explain its position to voters.
He also alleged that the two opposition parties were joining hands in an attempt to regain political power and said voters would respond through democratic means.
Asked whether internal differences within the BJP could affect its performance in the civic polls, Debroy said the party followed organisational discipline and its members would abide by decisions taken by the leadership.
He dismissed concerns over factionalism and expressed confidence in the state leadership under Saha and Deb, while referring to the support of the party’s central leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The party is expected to announce its candidate list and provide further details of the planned campaigns in the coming days.