Union Minister of State Pratima Bhoumik, who failed to receive the Bharatiya Janata Party’s nomination in the West Tripura Lok Sabha constituency, has been noticeably absent from the high voltage campaigning for her replacement Biplab Kumar Deb. She has so far only attended one meeting in her home turf of Dhanpur in Sepahijala district.
A local BJP leader and supporter of Ms. Bhoumik on Tuesday said she is unhappy with being dropped from the candidature and is making her displeasure known by skipping from active campaigning. The BJP has nominated former Chief Minister and Rajya Sabha member Biplab Kumar Deb from the West Tripura constituency.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, BJP candidates Bhoumik and Rebati Tripura won from West Tripura and East Tripura (ST) constituencies respectively. The party also dropped Rebati Tripura in East Tripura (ST), but he has been more active in public meetings regarding the upcoming Lok Sabha polls compared to Pratima Bhoumik, who was once rumored to be an aspirant for the post of the Chief Minister.
Despite being an MP and a Union Minister, she contested for the Dhanpur Assembly seat in the January 2023 Assembly election and won. However, she soon resigned from the assembly after Dr. Manik Saha was made Chief Minister and returned to Delhi.
The only meeting she attended on March 30 in Dhanpur was not attended by any State-level leaders. She had earlier attended the nomination filing rally here, but she cautiously kept her distance from both Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha and candidate Biplab Kumar Deb.
