Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday claimed the BJP will come to power for the second time in Tripura by winning 55 of the total 60 seats in the next year's assembly elections.
Sarma, who came to Agartala to participate in the launch of BJP's 'Booth Bijoy Abhijan', said his party's government in the state has done more than what it promised to the people ahead of the 2018 assembly elections despite the pandemic.
When the BJP won the first assembly election in Assam, people in Delhi used to say it was accidental, he said. "When BJP won the second term in Assam, the Delhi people admitted that the party has cemented its permanent base in the Northeast. This time, the party will win Tripura along with two more states -- Meghalaya and Nagaland," he said.
Urging party members to work hard for the next three months, forgetting family commitments, Sarma who heads the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) said, "There shall be no rest until the last ballot is counted because we have to make Tripura a wealthy state, and take it to among the country's leading states."
He said the atmosphere was conducive for the BJP this time compared to the last assembly elections. "I am sure the BJP will win as many as 55 assembly seats of the total 60 seats in the 2023 assembly elections. There should be no doubts about the BJP's victory in the state," he said.
In the 2018 assembly elections, the BJP routed the CPI(M)-led Left Front government of 25 years by winning 36 seats. Its ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) secured eight seats, while 16 seats went to the opposition CPI(M).
Sarma also mocked the CPI(M) for coming closer to the Congress ahead of the assembly elections, due early next year. "Having realised that the CPI(M) could not take on the BJP alone, it is trying to share the dish with the grand old party (Congress), but it is almost certain the BJP will win the elections," he said.
Sarma said the people of the Northeast are fortunate to have a prime minister like Narendra Modi at the Centre, who is always thinking for the welfare of the region. "Never before, the Northeast achieved such a level of prominence in Delhi. As many as five Union ministers are from the region now, while earlier we used to hear only one name -- Santosh Mohan Dev," he said.
BJP's northeast coordinator Sambit Patra, Chief Minister Manik Saha, Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma, Union Minister of State for Social Empowerment and Justice Pratima Bhoumik were among those present at the event in Rabindra Bhaban.
(With PTI Inputs)
