BJP played T-20 to win Tripura polls, says CM Manik Saha

AGARTALA — BJP played T-20 to retain Tripura in the 2023 Assembly polls and it was possible under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party chief J P Nadda, Chief Minister Manik Saha said.

The 2024 Lok Sabha polls will not be like playing the T-20 variant of cricket and party workers will work hard to ensure an easy victory for the BJP in the northeastern state, Saha said at a traders’ body conference on Tuesday.

The BJP overcame the challenges posed by a Left-Congress alliance and the fight put up by Tipra Motha , which contested the Assembly polls for the first time, in February.

In the 2023 state polls, the BJP won 32 seats in the state’s 60-member Assembly while its ally- Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) got one seat. The newbie party Tipra Motha, founded by former royal Pradyot Kishore Mankiya Debbarma, garnered 13 seats while the Left-Congress combine got 14 seats.

In the 2018 election, the saffron party had bagged 36 seats and its partner won eight seats. The BJP had wrested the state from the CPI(M) in a surprise win in 2018.

Addressing the conference, Saha said, “We (BJP) had to play a T-20 match in the last Assembly election and won it. This was possible only because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and national president JP Nadda and our guardian Amit Shah.

“This time, we don’t want to play a T20 match to win the Lok Sabha elections.”

Claiming that an “unholy alliance” was stitched between the CPI(M) and the Congress during the assembly election to defeat the BJP, he said they had created an illusion that they would come to power.

“Like you (traders) many people got confused. This time, one should not get confused over such attempts and vote for the BJP to strengthen the hands of Modi-ji. And the BJP means development and safety of national security,” Saha said.

Referring to traders as the backbone of the state’s economy, Saha said an investment friendly atmosphere has been created in the northeastern state after several years.

“It is time to think beyond conventional business policy. We are organising business summits and investors are keen to invest in the border state. You must invest in business and go for manufacturing goods instead of the old strategy- procuring franchises of big companies,” the chief minister said.