Top Leaders of the BJP Tripura 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 dispute in the State BJP and to formulate strategies for the forthcoming election of the assembly.
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, the central leaders of the BJP have expressed deep resentment at the factional politics within the BJP Tripura and the lobbying among the leaders.
BJP in Tripura faced a crisis of groupism after Biplab Kumar Deb was removed from the office of Chief Minister in June of this year.
His successor, Manik Saha, allegedly faced non-cooperation within the cabinet, the bureaucracy, and 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.
“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 minister. Biplab is undermining the present CM in the social media, and mobilizing 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 also reported that Amit Shah and the national president of the BJP, JP Nadda, gave specific instructions to the leaders to end factionalism in the party and work together to combat the opposition democratically and win the elections.
Shah expressed his anger about the violence and attacks against the opposition and the deteriorating state law and order situation and called on the CM to end the situation with an iron fist.
“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 mobilization 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 BJP investigation reports indicated a dismal fate for the party during the parliamentary elections and suggested a number of measures, including 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.
