Why was NSA at BJP’s poll meeting, asks CPI(M)

The CPI(M) on Monday demanded that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh explain the reported presence of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval at a meeting with BJP and RSS office-bearers on the upcoming Assembly elections in Tripura.

On Sunday, a meeting was reportedly held at the Home Minister’s residence, where BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav and NSA Ajit Doval were present. The meeting was reportedly in connection with the National Register of Citizens (NRC), the first draft of which has been released and led to a political turmoil in Assam. But the CPI(M) demanded to know if the meeting was held to discuss elections in Tripura and asked the Home Minister to clarify why the NSA was present at the meeting.

“It has been reported in sections of the media that a meeting was held at the residence of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh attended by BJP and RSS leaders to discuss about the forthcoming elections in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland. Some of the media have also reported that the National Security Adviser Ajit Doval also attended the meeting. If correct, this is a shocking violation of norms and serious misconduct,” said a statement released by the CPI(M) politburo.

The BJP has been keeping mum over its strategy in Tripura even when the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPTF), the outfit that caused blockade in the State last year with its demand for a separate statehood, has already announced its alliance with the ruling party at the Centre. The IPTF envisions a separate Twipraland for the state’s indigenous communities. The BJP, on its part, has asserted that no commitment has been made to the IPTF on the demand for a separate statehood. At the same time, the IPTF representatives were in Delhi earlier this month and its chief NC Debbarma had said last Wednesday that a unanimous decision had been taken by his party to align with the BJP.

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