Ahead of Assembly elections in Tripura, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is clearing the decks for the state’s royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarman to join the saffron brigade.
In a significant development on Tuesday, the party’s state election in-charge and Assam Finance Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma had a private meeting with Pradyot Kishore Debbarman at Raj Andar – the part of Ujjayanta Palace that is still owned by the royal family in Agartala.
When asked about the meeting during a media interaction, state president of the BJP, Biplab Kumar Deb, while evading the details of the private conversation between Dr Sarma and Debbarman, said he had earlier approached the royal scion to join the BJP.
Meanwhile, affirming that Debbarman was always welcome to the party, Deb added he will discuss the matter with the Assam Finance Minister who is leaving no stone unturned for a dominant outcome of the BJP in the upcoming Assembly elections in the State.
Contrary to Deb’s comment, Himanta maintained his meeting was not political and that he was just calling on an ‘old friend’.
The head of the royal family who is a former MLA is presently the working president of Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee.
Meanwhile, Manoranjan Acharjee, former CPI (M) MLA of Birganj Assembly constituency who was forced to resign following a cse of sexual abuse is joining the BJP at a rally to be held in Amarpur on Wednesday. He was, however, acquitted in the case by a district court because of lack of evidence.