Amit Shah to visit poll-bound Northeast

January 6, 2018 66 Views No Comment

BJP chief to focus on Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland whose terms of Assemblies will end in March.

BJP president Amit Shah is setting out on a whirlwind tour of three northeastern States, which are among the eight States going to the polls in 2018.

Senior party sources said Mr. Shah would visit Meghalaya on Saturday, Tripura on Sunday, and Nagaland on Monday. The terms of the Assemblies of these States end in March.

Public meetings

“Mr. Shah will address a public meeting in Meghalaya and inaugurate the office of the State unit of the party in Shillong. The next day he will be in Tripura, where too he will address public meetings, and on Monday, the tour will end in Nagaland,” a senior source said.

The BJP sees the northeastern States as crucial to spread not just electorally but also ideologically as it is considered one of the last frontiers in breaking its image of being a North Indian party.

The Left-ruled Tripura is within the sights of the party, where Manik Sarkar’s unbroken reign since 1998 is a challenge to the BJP’s plans for expansion.

Poll in-charges

The BJP has appointed Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma poll in-charge for Tripura and Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju for Nagaland.

Mr. Sarma and Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi recently approached the Election Commission asking that all care be taken to ensure that the elections in the State are free and fair.

The party has been accusing the Manik Sarkar government of intimidating BJP workers in the State.

“While Kerala goes for an alternation between the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), Tripura has seen unbroken Communist rule for two decades and that is a big challenge, equivalent to breaking their stranglehold on West Bengal in the past. We are putting all efforts to pose a credible challenge,” said a source who is part of the BJP’s efforts in the State.

Source: The Hindu