Agartala: The results of the presidential elections have set off whispers of mistrust within the Tripura BJP rank and file as two ruling party legislators cast their vote in favour of opposition candidate Yashwant Sinha.
The cross-voting has made it amply clear that all is not well with the party in power in the state even after a change of guard. The breach of trust has driven the BJP to ponder over inducting fresh faces as the loyalty of the party lawmakers is in question.
A total of 59 MLAs participated in the presidential elections held on July 18. Out of the 59 MLAs, the ruling BJP-IPFT combine accounts for 43 MLAs, while the opposition Congress and the CPI-M have 16 MLAs.
The poll results showed that Droupadi Mourmu, the NDA presidential candidate, received 41 votes in favour and the Presidential candidate of the united opposition Yashwant Sinha bagged 18 votes—two votes more than what he was supposed to get.
Party sources in the ruling BJP said, “The party has already identified the black sheep who have broken the party’s trust. Since there is no party whip applicable in the Presidential elections, legally the party can take no action against the ‘betrayers’, but yes, they have certainly crossed all limits, and in the forthcoming elections, chances are very rare that the party would once again keep faith in them.”
Senior party leaders, on the condition of anonymity, also informed EastMojo that the BJP’s hunt for fresh faces ahead of the assembly election scheduled next year is already on.
“In many constituencies, fresh people will be given party tickets. The party always considers the ground reports while distributing the candidature. All Mandal committees will be advised to forward a list of three possible names suitable for getting a BJP ticket. We always learn from our mistakes, and this time ideological commitment towards the party would be the yardstick to nominate MLAs,” the party leader added.
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