Agartala, September 10: The BJP and Tipra Motha Party are moving to prevent multi-cornered contests within the NDA in Tripura’s upcoming Village Committee elections, with senior leaders of the two parties holding detailed discussions on Thursday to settle the remaining seat-sharing differences.
The alliance partners have agreed in principle that constituencies where both parties have submitted nomination papers will see the withdrawal of one candidate. Leaders said the process is expected to be completed by Friday, allowing the NDA to enter the September 28 polls with a single candidate in the affected seats.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ratan Lal Nath said the two parties had reached an understanding on nearly 80 per cent of the seats, while negotiations were continuing over the remaining constituencies.
Nath attributed the presence of rival nominees from the two allies in some seats to the delay in finalising the seat-sharing arrangement and the limited time available during the nomination process. He said the alliance message had also taken time to reach workers and leaders at the grassroots.
He said local-level functionaries were now aware of the decisions taken by the state leadership and would facilitate withdrawals wherever duplicate nominations had been filed.
Describing the Village Committee polls as an important electoral exercise, Nath said the large number of seats required detailed negotiations. He added that the performance of BJP and Tipra Motha in the 2026 TTAADC elections had been used as a reference while preparing the seat-sharing formula.
Tipra Motha MLA Ranjit Debbarma said block-level reports had been collected and would form the basis for resolving the remaining disputes. While the final seat numbers could change, he said the alliance would ensure that only one NDA candidate contested each constituency covered by the agreement.
BJP Tripura Pradesh president Abhishek Debroy expressed confidence in a strong NDA performance, predicting a decisive victory in the rural polls.
Thursday’s negotiations were mainly between BJP and Tipra Motha. NDA ally IPFT did not participate in the meeting, but Debroy said its absence did not indicate any problem within the alliance. According to him, IPFT’s electoral arrangement had already been finalised.
Debroy also rejected allegations by the CPI(M) and Congress that their candidates were facing threats or obstruction. He accused the opposition parties of attempting to create a false narrative to gain public sympathy.
Addressing questions about BJP and Tipra Motha contesting the TTAADC elections separately earlier this year, Debroy said both parties had taken independent electoral decisions at that time. He said their leadership had subsequently decided to fight the Village Committee elections together.
Nath described the earlier separation as an “electoral tactic”, maintaining that BJP and Tipra Motha had been allies since 2024 and continued to share responsibility for running the state government.
