New Delhi: The BJP on Saturday released its first list of 48 candidates for the 60-member Tripura Assembly, elections for which will be held next month. The party said that the names of the remaining 12 candidates will be announced later. The list was released by senior BJP leaders Anil Baluni and Sambit Patra during a press conference at the party headquarters here.


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In its first list, the party has fielded Union Minister Pratima Bhoumik from Dhanpur, and state’s Chief Minister Manik Saha has been nominated as a BJP candidate from Town Bordowali.


 



 


Bhoumik is a Union minister in the BJP-led government at the Centre. She is an MP from Tripura. In the last assembly polls in 2018, the BJP for the time had formed a government in Tripura, considered the left bastion. The CPI(M) had ruled the state unabated for 25 years.


The BJP top brass was in talks with TIPRA, a regional party founded by former Congress leader and royal scion Pradyot Deb Barman, for a pre-poll alliance, which has now been ruled out. The CPI(M) is contesting the state elections in alliance with Congress this time.


Meanwhile, Congress has also announced a list of 17 candidates for the upcoming  Tripura Assembly Elections. As per the Congress list, Sudip Roy Barman will contestthe polls from Agartala.


 



 



The BJP came to power in the state for the first time in 2018 after defeating CPI(M), which ruled the state for 25 years continuously. As per the Election Commission, the assembly election in Tripura, where the BJP is currently in power, will be held on February 16. The counting of votes will take place on March 2. Tripura's assembly session will end on March 22 this year.