The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday appointed Mahendra Singh as the election in-charge for the poll-bound Tripura.
Mahendra Singh is a former minister in Yogi Adityanath's government in Uttar Pradesh.
"BJP National President JP Nadda has appointed Dr Mahendra Singh, MLC Uttar Pradesh as the party's election in-charge and Samir Oraon MP Rajya Sabha as co-incharge for upcoming legislative elections in Tripura," the BJP said in a tweet.
Besides, the party has also appointed Rajya Sabha BJP ST Morcha incharge Samir Oraon as the co-incharge for the Tripura elections.
The government's decision was welcomed by former Tripura CM Biplab Deb, who was recently elected as Rajya Sabha MP tweeted and exhibited confidence to register a "massive victory" in the state.
"Together we will form the party's government again in the state by giving a massive victory. The double engine government of BJP under the leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi ji has done historic work in taking Tripura forward in the sense of development," Biplab Deb tweeted.
BJP national coordinator for the north-east states Sambit Patra congratulated Dr Mahendra Singh and Samir Oraon as well as extended best wishes for their appointments.
In a significant setback to BJP, an MLA from their ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) submitted his resignation to Assembly Speaker Ratan Chakraborty a few days ago.
The assembly elections to the State of Tripura are likely to take place in the first quarter of 2023.
BJP with its ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) came to power in Tripura in 2018 ending 25-year-long Left rule in the northeastern state. Out of the 60 Assembly seats in 2018, the BJP managed to secure a majority of 36 and its ally IPFT got 8. With the recent resignations, the IPFT has a total of six MLAs.
The BJP is facing new challenges as new entrants in the form of Mamata Banerjee-led TMC and Tripura Indigenous Peoples Regional Alliance (TIPRA) Motha, a regional party whose supremo is Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma is also likely to fight 35 seats on its own in the upcoming 2023 Assembly polls.
The demand for a separate state for indigenous Tripuris (also known as Tiprasas or Tipras) is also at the centre stage for the Pradyot-led party.
( With inputs from ANI )
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