The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its alliance partner Tipra Motha Party (TMP) have finalised their seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming Village Committee (VC) elections and will contest the polls together as partners of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

The agreement was reached after a marathon meeting between the two parties that began at around 7 pm on Sunday and continued until 3 am on Monday at a city hotel.

The VC elections are scheduled to be held on September 28 across more than 4,000 seats in Tripura.

Senior BJP leader and Power Minister Ratan Lal Nath, who chaired the meeting, said the two parties had successfully concluded discussions on seat sharing.

“Everyone is aware that the Village Committee elections will be held on September 28. The leadership of the BJP and Tipra Motha went to Delhi, where Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha and Maharaj Pradyot held discussions with Union Home Minister Amit Shah regarding the NDA alliance and contesting the elections together,” Nath said.

He said the large number of seats involved made it impossible to settle the entire arrangement in a single meeting. According to Nath, leaders of both parties subsequently held detailed discussions and completed the seat-sharing exercise.

“From today, we will start filing nominations. Senior leaders of both parties are involved in the process, and you will get all the details later today. The seat sharing has been done beautifully,” Nath said.

Tipra Motha MLA Ranjit Debbarma also confirmed that the discussions had been completed and the seat-sharing formula had been finalised.

Transport Minister and Cabinet spokesperson Sushanta Chowdhury said the BJP and Tipra Motha leadership had held extensive discussions and unanimously decided to fight the VC elections together.

“The leadership of both parties held a long meeting and arrived at the decision that BJP and Tipra Motha will fight the upcoming VC elections together as partners of the NDA. The meeting was held in a very positive atmosphere, and the decision was taken unanimously,” Chowdhury said.

He added that the detailed seat-sharing formula would be formally announced by the leadership later on Monday.

The joint decision is expected to set the stage for a coordinated electoral campaign by the two NDA partners in the tribal areas ahead of the September 28 VC polls.