Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) holds meet in Guwahati over Tripura polls

GUWAHATI/AGARTALA: With the Tripura Assembly elections just six months away, Chief Minister Manik Saha held a key meeting in Guwahati on Wednesday with his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma and central BJP leaders to chalk out the poll strategy.

Sources in Guwahati said that in the four-hour-long meeting, Saha, who is also the state BJP chief, and Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma, Sarma, BJP national general secretary BL Santosh, national vice president Baijayant Jay Panda, and central observer for Tripura Phanindra Nath Sharma discussed the initial strategies for the election, expected to be held in February next year.

The issue of whether to continue the alliance with the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) also came up.

Sarma, BJP's leading strategist and convener of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), played a significant role in the 2018 Assembly elections in Tripura when the saffron party-led alliance defeated the CPI-M led Left Front after 25 years.

BJP president JP Nadda and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat are expected to separately visit the State next week.

Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress on Wednesday removed Subal Bhowmik as president of its Tripura State committee. According to party sources, Bhowmik, who was earlier in the BJP, is likely to re-join it during Nadda's upcoming visit.

The former Congress MLA was appointed Trinamool's Tripura State chief in April. (IANS)

Also Read: Assam: JP Nadda To Inaugurate BJP North East Office Building In Guwahati

Also Watch: Guwahati Weather Stands at 35°C, Google Says It Feels Like 47°C