Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha on Thursday chaired an organisational meeting at the party state headquarters in view of the ensuing Urban Local Body polls. The polls are likely to be held after the Deepavali festival. The Chief Minister is said to have instructed party workers to make sure that organisational activities ahead of the polls are intensified to yield optimum results.

Speaking to the media before the meeting, the Chief Minister said, “The primary purpose of the meeting is to tell our workers to get ready for the elections. Our organisation is already in good shape and now the task is to start working with the desired pace and momentum.”

According to the Chief Minister, various issues pertaining to the elections, right from reservation of candidates to organisational appointments and supervision, would come up for discussion during the meeting.

After the meeting, BJP Tripura Pradesh President Abhishek Debroy interacted with the media and elaborated on the issues discussed in the meeting.

“The MLAs, Ministers, District, Mandal Presidents and Chairpersons of areas that are covered under the 21 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) had attended the meeting to chalk out a roadmap for the polls ahead. The forthcoming elections to Municipal Corporations, Councils and Nagar Panchayats are very crucial for us and accordingly, a preliminary organisational meeting was conducted today,” said Debroy.

To a query, Debroy said, “As per the guidelines of the party, competent committees will be formed for the elections and we shall also appoint prabharis (observers) to oversee the elections.”

On being asked about the poll planks, Debroy said, “Our poll planks are ‘development’ and ‘good governance’. If you look at the civic infrastructure all over the urban bodies, the difference is in the dichotomy of ‘hell’ and ‘heaven’. The government is leaving no stone unturned to modernise the civic infrastructure across the cities and towns, while emphasis is also being laid on providing the best possible civic amenities to the citizens.”

Stating that the real facelift could only be visible once the projects are completed, he said, “When the projects are underway, the people have to face certain inconveniences, but when the project gets completed, you shall notice that the whole scenario is changed totally.”

The BJP state president also branded the ‘Gamaria episode’ as a deep-rooted conspiracy which should be investigated impartially. “The police are doing their job. The chain of events raises a high element of suspicion. All over the state, polls were conducted peacefully, but all of a sudden an incident occurred, that too in my constituency. This calls for a probe which is underway. It is being said that BJP is responsible for the incident, but believe me, our party has no links with it.”

Debroy also downplayed claims made by Congress and CPIM and asserted that both the parties had stooped to a record low to gain political mileage and that they stood exposed before the public.