Ahead of the September 28 Village Committee elections in Tripura’s tribal areas, senior leaders of the ruling BJP and its NDA allies held an important meeting at the Manu Dak Bungalow on Tuesday to discuss coordination, organizational preparations and election campaign strategies.
The meeting was chaired by Power Minister and veteran BJP leader Ratan Lal Nath. BJP vice-president Tapas Bhattacharjee, IPFT Minister Shukla Charan Noatia, Tipra Motha MLA Paul Dangshu, MDC Rabindra Debbarma, MDC Hollywood Chakma and other senior leaders of the BJP, IPFT and Tipra Motha were present at the meeting.
The leaders discussed coordination among the NDA partners, organizational preparedness and strategies for the upcoming Village Committee elections. Particular emphasis was laid on strengthening coordination at the grassroots level and collectively addressing issues that may arise during the election campaign.
The meeting also discussed the possibility of joint campaigning by the alliance partners in different areas. Speaking to the media after the meeting, Nath said joint campaigning would not be necessary everywhere and that strategies would be formulated according to local conditions and requirements.
He said special emphasis was being given to direct interaction with voters through door-to-door campaigns, courtyard meetings, market-based meetings and small public gatherings, mainly at the local level.
Nath said the state-level meeting was aimed at further strengthening coordination among the alliance partners and discussing ways to jointly address issues that may arise during the election campaign. He added that the matters discussed had been brought to the notice of Tipra Motha supremo Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma, BJP state president Abhishek Debroy and Chief Minister Prof. (Dr.) Manik Saha.
The meeting was the latest in a series of discussions among the alliance partners ahead of the Village Committee elections. On Saturday, BJP leaders also held an organisational meeting at Muktdhara Auditorium in Agartala, where preparations for the elections and strengthening the party organisation up to the booth level were discussed.
The Tripura State Election Commission has announced that elections to 4,597 seats across 2,634 constituencies covering 587 Village Committees will be held on September 28, after a gap of 10 years.