Agartala, Oct 27 : The BJP's Tripura unit on Tuesday held a marathon meeting with senior leaders to discuss preparations for the upcoming urban local body elections and finalise a roadmap for implementing seven political programmes and campaigns in the state.
The meeting was held at the state guest house in the presence of Chief Minister Manik Saha, former chief minister and West Tripura MP Biplab Kumar Deb, cabinet ministers, MLAs, leaders of the party's frontal organisations and other senior functionaries.
BJP's national general secretary (organisation) for Assam and Tripura, Rabindra Raju, and the party's newly appointed central observer for Tripura, Mriganka Deo Barman, also attended the meeting.
Speaking to reporters, Saha said the discussions primarily focused on preparations for the urban local body elections and the implementation of programmes initiated by the Centre.
Deb said the meeting would deliberate on the party's strategy for the civic polls and the phased implementation of seven political programmes in Tripura.
He alleged that certain political forces were attempting to weaken democratic institutions and said the BJP had planned campaigns to counter such efforts. The proposed programmes would include foot marches, interactions with young voters and press conferences across different parts of the state, he said.
BJP Tripura Pradesh president Abhishek Debroy expressed confidence that the party would win all municipal corporations, municipal councils and nagar panchayats in the forthcoming elections.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the meeting, Debroy said the party was preparing for the polls and its candidate list would be announced shortly. He did not specify a date for the announcement.
He attributed the party's confidence to development initiatives undertaken by the state government under Saha's leadership, citing infrastructure projects and improvements in Agartala, Udaipur and Dharmanagar. He also referred to proposed development work in Khowai and acknowledged that some projects were yet to be completed.
On the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Debroy described the exercise as a constitutional process and accused the Congress and the CPI(M) of misleading people over the issue.
He said the BJP would explain its position to voters and alleged that opposition parties were joining hands to regain political power.
Asked whether factional differences within the BJP could affect its electoral prospects, Debroy said the party functioned according to organisational discipline and its members would abide by collective decisions.
He also expressed confidence in the state leadership and the support of the party's central leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The meeting is expected to guide the BJP's organisational preparations and political outreach ahead of the civic elections.
