Tripura Congress-Left Alliance Has "No Ideology": BJP Chief JP Nadda

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President JP Nadda on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Congress-Left alliance in Tripura ahead of the Assembly election and said the alliance was "opportunistic in nature" and had "no ideology".

While talking to ANI, the BJP President said, "This alliance is opportunistic in nature. It has no ideology. They have formed an alliance to grab the seats. They do not understand that their alliance does not mean the voters get together and support them. Voters do not go by mathematics but by chemistry and relevant issues."

"The Congress-Left alliance is unethical and has no synchrony. We are experienced. The same thing happened in Uttar Pradesh. Samajwadi Party did an alliance with Congress and BSP. The results are in front of everybody. It was a big zero. The same results would be seen here," he added.

Mr Nadda also noted the transition of Tripura from terrorism to peace.

He said, "The people of Tripura in the last five years have seen the end to terrorism. Corruption has been finished and law and order has been established. Peace has been maintained. Earlier Tripura was known for bandhs, blockades and insurgency. However, today Tripura is known for peace and development. Tripura is scaling new heights in the development sector."

"The poor, farmers, youth, tribals, women and those who are relatively backward in society have been empowered. The people of Tripura want to associate themselves with the aspirations of Tripura and move towards development under BJP's rule," he added.

The BJP President further lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and exuded confidence of winning the upcoming polls by a large majority.

"The Adivasi brothers know that Modiji will work towards their betterment. People have faith in PM Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party. BJP will gather more votes this time. The people of Tripura have made up their minds to vote for BJP."

"I want to tell all the voters that BJP is the only political party that has seriously worked under PM Modi's leadership to change the face and destiny of Tripura. We will carry forward these efforts," Mr Nadda added.

While talking about the development initiatives in the state, the BJP President said, "Tripura was earlier limited to small lanes but now under the BJP rule, four and six-lane highways have come up. We are connecting small villages with broadband. A total of Rs 980 crore is being spent on the Agartala-Akhaura rail project. 15 km of railway link will be made. 10 km will be made in Bangladesh and 5 km in India. The money is being spent by the Indian government. You can see the development yourself."

BJP posted a stunning victory in Tripura in the 2018 Assembly elections, a Left bastion with Manik Sarkar being its Chief Minister for over two decades. After its poll victory, BJP appointed Biplab Deb as Tripura's Chief Minister and in May 2022 appointed Manik Saha for the role.

The party is preparing itself to register another win in Tripura and has struck an alliance with its former ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) which has fielded its candidates at five assembly seats.

For the election on 60 Assembly seats in the northeastern state, which are slated to be held on February 17, the BJP has fielded 55 candidates.

For the first time, 11 women candidates have been given tickets.

Tripura is slated to go to Assembly polls on February 16. Votes will be counted on March 2 along with Nagaland and Meghalaya.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)