Agartala, Oct 6: Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha on Tuesday defended the BJP’s decision to describe the outcome of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) Village Committee elections as an NDA performance, saying the BJP respects its alliance partners and would continue to refer to the alliance as the NDA.
Saha’s remarks came amid criticism from opposition parties over the BJP’s attempt to project the results as an NDA victory, with the CPI(M) and Congress questioning the BJP’s independent electoral strength in the tribal areas.
“The BJP always respects the partners who are in the NDA. We say that we respect them and always, everywhere, we have said that the BJP leadership calls it the NDA,” Saha said speaking to reporters in the sidelines of Durga Puja gift distribution in Agartala.
Responding to questions over why some alliance partners were now using the NDA tag while referring to the election results, the Chief Minister said the BJP would continue to use it as recently after the decision take a New Delhi on his return he declared that in the airport and is standing by it .
“Ask them why they are not saying it. We will say NDA and, accordingly, even now they are partners with us. So we do not want to comment on this,” he said.
Saha recalled that he had made the BJP’s position clear even before the election.
“I had said when I landed at the airport that we would contest the VC election together as NDA partners. So we are saying NDA. Why someone else is not saying it is not our interest,” he said.
The Chief Minister also sought to play down the issue, saying he had spoken to leaders at the state level and that directions had been given on the matter.
“I have spoken to the leaders here and it seems that we have given our direction on this issue. These are small issues. It would be better not to give them too much importance,” Saha said.
The remarks came a day after the declaration of the Village Committee election results, in which Tipra Motha emerged as the dominant party among the results declared, while the BJP secured a substantially smaller tally. The opposition subsequently questioned the BJP’s claim of an NDA victory, arguing that the figures showed a weak independent BJP presence in the tribal areas.
CPI(M) state secretary and Leader of Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury and senior Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman separately attacked the BJP’s political interpretation of the results and questioned its tribal support base.
Saha, however, focused on the alliance framework under which the BJP had contested the election, maintaining that the BJP would continue to recognise the partners as part of the NDA and would not attach undue importance to differences over the terminology.
