Bharatiya Janata Party
national secretary Sunil Deodhar on Wednesday predicted a landslide
victory for his party across Northeast India in the Lok Sabha elections,
adding that all allies will extend support during polls. Deodhar
further said BJP would emerge victorious in more than 20 Parliament seats in different states of Northeast India.
“We shall win over 20 seats in NE India. We shall also field
candidates in both Lok Sabha seats of Tripura,” the BJP leader said
speaking to reporters after joining a crucial meeting on Lok Sabha polls
at Rabindra Shatabarshiki Bhavan here today.
Meanwhile, Tripura’s ruling ally, Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura
(IPFT), Tuesday said they were not consulted while deciding the poll
candidates.
“We wanted to discuss but BJP did not discuss with us about seat
sharing. So, we have decided to contest alone and field our own
candidates,” IPFT spokesperson Mangal Debbarma told reporters.
Replying to the IPFT statement, Deodhar, who is in charge of Tripura
and Karnataka from the party’s central committee, said he would speak
with IPFT and ask for their support.
“We are going to meet IPFT leaders and try to convince them. BJP
candidates will contest in both Lok Sabha seats of Tripura. We will seek
their support and I am confident that they will support us. They have
faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi; they have faith in BJP. They also have faith in the Chief Minister of Tripura,” Deodhar said.
Asked about IPFT’s demand of Tipraland, a proposed separate state for
tribals, Deodhar said, “They are a Democratic Party and they have their
own thoughts and own ideology. If the ideology and everything were
similar, there would be no party other than BJP. They have every right
to speak.”
BJP leaders have clarified on several occasions that the party does not agree to the demand of separate statehood in Tripura.
BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav, who joined the meeting
today, said he would appeal IPFT leaders to support BJP candidates in
the Lok Sabha polls.
“We will talk to them and appeal for their support for our
candidates. BJP and NEDA partners will win in over 20 seats in NE
India,” Ram Madhav said.
Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, who is also state president
of ruling BJP, tweeted about the preparations and wrote, “Extensively
reviewed the preparations for the #LokSabhaElections2019 during the
@BJP4Tripura Organisational Meeting held in presence of Shri
@rammadhavbjp at #Agartala today. #PhirEkBaadModiSarkaar
@Tripura4PMModi.”
