Union Home Minister Amit Shah flagged off the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) 'Jana Viswas Yatra' in poll-bound Tripura on Thursday, January 5, as the state prepares to go to polls in the next few months. Shah arrived in Tripura on Wednesday night. He was earlier scheduled to reach the state on Thursday, but his arrival was preponed, a senior official said told news agency PTI.

At Sabroom in South Tripura district, Shah flagged off a BJP rath yatra, the second one during the day after Dharmanagar in North Tripura district, aimed at highlighting the state government's achievements ahead of the assembly elections due early this year.

ALSO READ | Ex-Tripura CM Biplab Deb's ancestral home attacked: 'Miscreants shouted either CPM will come to power or...'

What is expected during these yatras

BJP state president Rajib Bhattacharjee said the party expects to connect with around 10 lakh people as the the 'Jana Viswas Yatra' will cover all the 60 assembly constituencies (approximately 1,000 km) of Tripura.

"There will be 200 rallies and over 100 processions to highlight the central and state governments' welfare activities," Bhattacharjee said.

As a part of the two Rath Yatras, several public meetings and rallies have been planned, party leaders said. At least 10 Union ministers, chief ministers of BJP-ruled states and central leaders are expected to join the yatra.

Earlier this week, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, accompanied by Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Sushanta Chowdhury, visited Dharmanagar and Sabroomy to check the preparations for the party's mega show ahead of the assembly elections.

BJP national president JP Nadda is scheduled to remain present on the concluding day of the programme on January 12.

Tripura Assembly election 2023

The assembly election in Tripura are likely to take place in the last week of February or in the first week of March. Besides the BJP, the Congress and the CPI(M), Pradyot Manikya of the Tipra Motha party is an important factor this time.

The BJP-IPFT alliance had swept the 2018 Tripura Assembly polls, winning a two-third majority in the 60-member House, ending the 25-year-long Left rule in the state.

The BJP has 34 MLAs in the 60-member assembly, while its ally IPFT has five. The opposition Congress has one MLA and CPI(M) has 15 legislators, while five seats are vacant.

Ahead of the elections, Tripura BJP MLA Dibachandra Hrangkhawal resigned from the assembly, becoming the seventh legislator of the ruling coalition in the northeastern state to quit last year. He had cited personal reasons for his resignation.

Senior state Congress leader Asish Kumar Saha, legislators Sudip Roy Barman and Burbo Mohan Tripura were among other leaders who resigned from teh BJP. Barman and Saha had joined the Congress in February.

MLA Asish Das of the Surma constituency was disqualified for misconduct.

Das had joined the Trinamool Congress but left the Mamata Banerjee-led party too. He is out of active politics now. Burbo Mohan Tripura has joined the Tipra Motha, a regional party.

The Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), a constituent of the BJP-led coalition, also lost three of its MLAs -- Dhananjoy Tripura, Brishaketu Debbarma and Mevar Kumar Jamatia. The resignations of Dhananjoy Tripura and Mevar Kumar Jamatia were accepted by the speaker but Brishaketu was disqualified on the account of "procedural fault". The three leaders have joined the Tipra Motha.

(With inputs from PTI)

First Published:Jan 4, 2023 4:05 PM IST