Amid tussle in the ruling BJP in Tripura, the dissident MLAs have boycotted the felicitation programme of central leader Vinod Kumar Sonkar, who is the in-charge of party in the state.
Sources said all the rebel BJP legislators on Saturday skipped the felicitation programme held at Rabindra Bhawan in Agartala.
Party insiders said that Sonkar is scheduled to speak to the dissident MLAs at the State guesthouse on Sunday to break the ice.
The State BJP committee had made elaborate arrangements to accord a warm welcome to the newly-appointed party prabhari.
Chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb and deputy chief minister Jishnu Dev Varma shared the dais with Sonkar.
Almost all the ministers, MLAs and BJP workers were present in the programme that the dissidents had skipped.
The rebel MLAs include the party’s State vice president Ram Prasad Paul.
The dissident MLAs, however, alleged that they were not invited to join the felicitation programme arranged for Sonkar.
The dissident MLAs who claimed they wanted to reform the party, had already visited New Delhi and Guwahati to air their grievances before the BJP higher-ups.