Agartala, Aug 16: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, on Sunday, said talks between the BJP and the Tipra Motha Party (TMP) are still on for an alliance in the upcoming village committee elections of the tribal council.
"Our doors are still open for an alliance for the village committee elections, and talks between the two parties are still on. A final announcement could be made only after stitching the electoral deal with the TMP," Saha told the press.
Saha said the BJP has a tradition of not leaving its alliance partners and expressed optimism about a tie-up with the TMP for the elections.
His remark came a day before the TMP is scheduled to hold a crucial organisational meeting to decide its future course on the alliance.
TMP supremo Pradyot Kishore Debbarma has called an organisational meeting here on Monday to decide the party's strategy for the polls.
"Bubagra has called an important meeting on Monday to decide the future course of action for the village committee elections. Around 300 party leaders are expected to join the brainstorming session to make a final call on the alliance issue," TMP MLA Ranjit Debbarma said.
He said Debbarma has received a call from Delhi to hold further talks on the alliance and is likely to visit the national capital after getting feedback from party leaders.
Earlier, Debbarma and other TMP leaders met BJP national president Nitin Nabin in Delhi but failed to reach an agreement on an electoral understanding.
Elections to 587 village committees of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) are scheduled in the first half of September.
In the last TTAADC elections, the TMP won 24 of the 28 seats, despite sharing power with the BJP at the state level.