The BJP will try to form a rainbow alliance to consolidate anti-Left Front votes to oust the ruling coalition in Tripura in assembly polls in February next year, Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Friday.
"The Bharatiya Janata Party is yet to decide on its electoral alliances. We are now working to consolidate anti-Left votes and to strengthen our party's organisational base," he told reporters here.
He said: "Those Trinamool Congress and Congress MLAs keen to join the BJP should first cast votes in favour of NDA Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind on July 17. Except for the CPI-M, we urge legislators of all other parties to vote for Kovind."
The CPI-M leads the Left Front in Tripura.
Sarma, Assam's Minister for Finance, Health and Family Welfare, Education, Tourism and Guwahati Development, addressed several public and organisational meetings during his two-day visit to the state.
As for speculations that all six Trinamool Congress and one of the three Congress legislators might join the BJP, Sarma said: "Except for a few, our doors are open for all.
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"No development has taken place in Tripura during the 24-year rule of the Left Front. Unemployment is very high, crime against women is rising and the poor and backward people are deprived," he added.
--IANS
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