The high-decibel campaign ended on Friday in Tripura where the BJP, an ‘also-ran’ till now in the northeastern State, is making a determined bid to demolish the red bastion of 25 years, with stalwarts like Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah leading the charge.
The BJP has never been a major player in Tripura, which hitherto has witnessed only a battle between the Left Front and the Congress. But the Congress campaign has not been aggressive this time with party chief Rahul Gandhi addressing rallies only on the last day.
Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, who is seeking a fifth term from Dhanpur, even stated that the main contest is between the CPI(M) and the BJP in the February 18 elections for 60 seats. The BJP had polled just 5.70% votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and 1.5% votes in the 2013 Assembly polls.
Seeking to expand its imprint in the North-East, it has forged an alliance with the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) and hopes to benefit in 20 tribal seats.
The BJP has already formed governments in Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
Mr. Modi sounded the party’s poll bugle in Tripura with two rallies on February 8. He had asked the voters to throw away manik (Manik Sarkar government) and go for HIRA (H for highways, I for Internet way, R for roadways and A for airways).
He returned to campaign again in Tripura on Thursday, a day before the campaign ended.
Union Finance minister Arun Jaitley had released the Vision Document for Tripura.
BJP president Amit Shah addressed many public rallies and organised roadshows. Firebrand Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also sought votes for the party nominees.