The Janajati Janasabha of BJP at Khumulwng in Tripura, attended by party’s national president JP Nadda on Monday (Aug 29), visibly disappointed the saffron party leaders and workers ahead of upcoming Village Council polls and Assembly polls in the State.
It was for the first time that any BJP national leader like JP Nadda addressed a rally at Khumulwng which is the Head Quarters of Tripura Tribal Area Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) which is being ruled by Tipra Motha and BJP is in opposition.
Only a few days ago, BJP’s leader of opposition in the TTAADC quit the saffron party and joined Tipra Motha – even before the wound of desertion is healed, lukewarm response in terms of the attendance in the Janasabha (Public rally) has left State BJP in disappointment and clearly indicate that the party needs to ponder over its tribal politics to arrest the dwindling support base among the Janajati people.
Polls in Village Councils will be followed by Assembly election and as many as 20 seats out of the 60 seats are in TTAADC areas. The Janasabha clearly indicate that BJP needs to adopt more effective and decisive strategies to counter its main opposition in the ADC areas – Tipra Motha.
According to BJP sources, many of the Janajati people could not attend the rally as they faced pressure from Tipra Motha. According to the reports coming from some places, the rally-bound people were attacked and were left injured. A few other cited hot and humid condition as the reason that prevented Janajati people from attending the meeting.
But, for many others, the Khumulwng rally was a clear indication that BJP’s present strategies to woo Janajati people is not enough and it needs more teeth for the upcoming Village Council polls as well as assembly polls.
Meantime, addressing the rally, Nadda said, contributions of the tribals from Bru, Chakma, Bhil, Gari, Jamatia among 19 tribal communities in the state to the progress of the nation would always be remembered. He also remembered Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya, Freedom Fighters- Phanibhusan and Shantibhusan for their contributions.
The BJP national president said, the previous non-BJP governments never thought of the development of tribals before former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee started the first Tribal Welfare Ministry.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured the highest numbers of Janajati representatives in the government—at present, there are eight tribal ministers in the Union cabinet and five in the state cabinet, he pointed out.
Addressing the rally, Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha said the BJP government truly believes in the development of Janajati people. He said the double-engine governments are working together for an overall development of the ADC areas.
Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma, former Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, Union Minister of State Pratima Bhowmik, BJP state president Rajib Bhattacharjee MP Rebati Tripura BJP state prabhari Vinod Sonkar, party’s organizational secretary to Assam and Tripura- Phanidranath Sharma, ministers Santana Chakma, Sushanta Chowdhury and others MLAs Atul Debbarma, Pramod Reang, Parimal Debbarma, Shambhulal Chakma, Birendra Kishore and others were also present in the rally.