Agartala, October 1: The BJP has intensified its organisational preparations for elections to 21 urban local bodies in Tripura, including the Agartala Municipal Corporation, with state president Abhishek Debroy saying the polls are expected within the next two months.
Debroy, who is also an MLA, said the party has constituted committees at different levels and initiated discussions with its leaders and elected representatives on preparations for the civic elections.
A meeting chaired by the state BJP leadership was attended by Chief Minister Manik Saha, ministers, MLAs, district and mandal presidents and chairpersons of urban local bodies.
The meeting reviewed organisational preparedness and discussed the party’s strategy for the upcoming elections, Debroy said.
“An election is going to be held in the next one-and-a-half to two months. We discussed with everyone how we will move forward and what our policy will be,” he told reporters after the meeting.
On the possibility of an electoral understanding or seat-sharing arrangement with alliance partners TIPRA Motha and IPFT, Debroy said the matter would be decided by the BJP’s central leadership.
He said the alliance partners had their organisational and electoral presence mainly in tribal-dominated areas, while the BJP had an organisational base across the state’s urban local bodies.
Debroy said the state unit would follow the decision taken by the central leadership on any possible arrangement.
“We are a national party. Whatever Delhi decides, we have to obey that,” he said.
He added that the BJP’s core committee, state organisational leadership and central leaders would deliberate on the issue before providing directions to the state unit.
On the campaign agenda, Debroy said development would be the BJP’s main focus during the civic polls.
“Our agenda will be development,” he said, urging people to assess the changes in urban areas under the BJP-led government.
Earlier, Saha said the meeting discussed several aspects of election preparations, including reservation-related matters and organisational mobilisation.
The chief minister urged party leaders and workers to remain active in the run-up to the polls and cautioned them against complacency.
“Everyone has to take the matter seriously. There should not be any lethargy anywhere,” Saha said.
He said the party would approach voters on the basis of development work carried out in urban areas.
Agartala Mayor and MLA Dipak Majumder and other senior BJP leaders also attended the meeting.
The BJP’s organisational exercise comes ahead of the proposed urban local body elections, with the party beginning mobilisation across all 21 ULBs while the question of any electoral arrangement with its alliance partners remains with the central leadership.
