Amit Shah, Mamata Banerjee To Hit Campaign Trail In Poll-Bound Tripura

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will hit the campaign trail in Tripura this week.

Tripura will see a multi-cornered contest, with the ruling BJP tying up with the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), an old ally. The Left, which ruled the state for 25 years at a stretch before the BJP came to power in 2018, has formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress.

The parties that have gone solo are the Trinamool Congress and the Tipra Motha, which is headed by the erstwhile royal scion Pradyot Manikya Debbarma. Both these parties say defeating the BJP is their priority.

Trinamool's Tripura chief Pijush Kanti Biswas, along with Bengal's Education Minister Bratya Basu, Industries and WCD Minister Shashi Panja, Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev, and former Trinamool MLA and Minister, and state-in-charge, Rajib Banerjee, addressed the media on Sunday to release the party's manifesto.

Pijush Kanti Biswas hit out at the ruling BJP for not fulfilling promises. Rajib Banerjee announced a stipend for unemployed youth in the state. He also promised clean drinking water to every home, development of roads, SC/ST scholarship, farmers' pension etc to attract voters to the party.

The TMC is banking on award-winning welfare schemes like 'Kanyashree' to draw voters towards the party. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will arrive in the state on Monday to kick off her party's campaign. She will arrive at Agartala and head to Udaipur, where she will offer prayers at the Mata Tripureswari Temple on Tuesday, and hold a 'padayatra' (foot march).

The Trinamool Congress released its first list of 22 candidates last Sunday. The party's state in-charge Rajib Banerjee said they are "fully prepared" for the elections.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will also be in Tripura on Monday. He will address two election rallies in Khowai district, and Santirbazar in South Tripura district. The Union Minister will also join a road show in Agartala city on Monday.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are also scheduled to arrive in Tripura on February 7 for the party's election campaign.

The last date for filing nominations is January 30. Polling will be held on February 16, and counting will take place on March 2. 

The BJP bagged 36 out of the total 60 seats in the 2018 assembly elections, while its ally IPFT won eight.