Newly Elected BJP MLAs To Meet Today In Tripura

Agartala: The newly-elected MLAs of BJP-IPFT alliance are scheduled to meet in Tripura today in the presence of central observers to deliberate and decide on various aspects of government formation, a party leader said on Monday.

"Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Jual Oram would arrive here on Tuesday as central party observers. They would meet the newly-elected MLAs on Tuesday to ascertain their views on government formation," Tripura Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vice president Subal Bhowmik told the media in Agartala.

The BJP Parliamentary Board on Saturday appointed Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Jual Oram as central observers.

Mr Bhowmik said: "The new BJP ministry in Tripura would most likely assume office within this week. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party's national president Amit Shah, several central leaders and Chief Ministers of various states are likely to be present during the swearing-in ceremony, date of which will be finalised after getting the Prime Minister's schedule."

According to the BJP leader, a combined meeting of the newly-elected legislators of the BJP and its ally - the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) - would also be held today to discuss government formation.

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Mr Bhowmik said that Class 10 and 12 examinations conducted by the Tripura Board of Secondary Education would start from today. "We have to keep this also in mind while finalising the date of swearing-in ceremony of the new ministry on a grand scale."

Another BJP leader, on condition of anonymity, told IANS that party's Tripura unit chief Biplab Kumar Deb is the most favoured leader for the post of Chief Minister and he would likely be elected as the BJP-IPFT legislature group leader in Tuesday's meeting.

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Mr Deb, who defeated the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) nominee and party's youth leader Amal Chakraborty in the Banamalipur constituency by a margin of 9,549 votes, won the electoral battle in his maiden attempt.

The BJP-IPFT coalition swept the February 18 polls, the results of which were declared on Saturday, winning 43 of the 59 seats for which elections were held.

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The BJP secured 35 seats in the 60-member assembly, while ally IPFT, a tribal-based party, won eight seats. The CPI-M got only 16 seats, while the Congress drew a blank.

Elections were held for 59 seats and countermanded in one (Charilam seat, reserved for tribal) following the death of CPI-M candidate a week before the polls.

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"BJP leaders would try to accommodate women, tribal, scheduled castes and youth leaders in its ministry. Regional representation would also be kept in mind," the BJP leader told IANS.

Meanwhile, following reports of clashes between the workers of the BJP and the CPI-M in different parts of the state, the district administrations of several districts promulgated prohibitory orders and deployed additional security forces to foil any possible post-poll violence.

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Accusing the CPI-M for deliberately provoking and indulging in violence and attacks on BJP supporters, Mr Bhowmik said according to the reports from different district party units, there have been 49 incidents of attacks on BJP workers and supporters by CPI-M cadres injuring 17 party men, who are now being treated in different government hospitals.

He warned all that law would take its own course against the attackers irrespective of party affiliations.

The CPI-M, on the other hand, alleged that around 514 CPI-M supporters were injured in attacks by rival BJP party workers at more than 200 places across Tripura since Saturday, after the declaration of the poll results.

"Arsoning, attacks and loot were carried out in around 1,539 houses. Many rubber gardens and small vehicles, hundreds of small shops, were forcibly occupied, ransacked or burned at around 500 places," CPI-M state secretary Bijan Dhar told the media on Monday night.

"We urge the administration and the BJP party leadership to take adequate measures to stop these post-poll violence immediately," said Mr Dhar, also a CPI-M central committee member.