AGARTALA: Top Tripura BJP leaders led by chief minister Manik Saha attended a high-level meeting on Sunday in Delhi convened by union home minister Amit Shah to resolve the factional feud in the state BJP and to formulate the strategies for the upcoming assembly election.
Besides BJP national president JP Nadda, party’s Tripura president Rajib Bhattacharjee, deputy chief minister Jishnu Dev Varma, union minister Pratima Bhowmik, Rajya Sabha MP and former Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb also attended the meeting.
According to reports, BJP central leaders have expressed serious resentment against the factional politics within Tripura BJP and lobbyism among the leaders.
BJP in Tripura has been facing a crisis of groupism after Biplab Kumar Deb was removed from the chief minister’s post in June this year.
His successor Manik Saha has been reportedly facing non-cooperation in the cabinet, bureaucracy and from a section of party leaders.
Reports claim that former Tripura CM Biplab Deb and union minister Pratima Bhowmik are running a parallel administration within BJP in the state and influencing the administration against incumbent CM Manik Saha.
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“Biplab and Pratima had defeated the chief minister’s nominees in Tripura Cricket Association, and both of them were also found reluctant in sharing dais with the chief minster. Biplab is undermining the present CM in the social media, and mobilising MLAs against him, about which the central leaderships were informed repeatedly,” a senior party functionary was quoted by UNI on condition of anonymity.
The sources further said that Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda have issued specific instructions to the leaders to stop factionalism in the party and work unitedly to fight the opposition democratically and win the elections.
Shah expressed his annoyance over violence and attacks on the opposition and the deteriorating law and order situation of the state and asked the CM to arrest the situation with an iron hand.
“Apprehending a poll alliance between the CPI-M and the Congress against BJP, the leaders suggested holding the elections to the 60-member Assembly in two phases. The mobilisation of manpower, election machinery, and resources to counter the opposition would be comprehensive and better if the election is held in more than one phase,” the leader said withholding his identity.
A number of survey reports of BJP have indicated a dismal fate for the party in the assembly elections and suggested several measures like the change of candidates including ministers and sitting MLAs in more than 25 percent of seats, which was also discussed in the meeting, the sources added.