AGARTALA: Barely 72 hours before the assembly election kicks off in the former princely state of Tripura-where BJP is locked in a direct fight with ruling CPM-Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to arrive in the capital on Thursday for two rallies, one in Agartala and the other in Shantirbazar. This will be Modi's second visit to the hilly state in a week.Last Thursday too (February 8) Modi was in Agartala to address rallies in Sonamura and Kailashahar where over 40,000 BJP supporters attended each of the meetings. The timing of the Prime Minister's visit assumes significance in the face of his political rival Rahul Gandhi 's scheduled trip to the state a day later. The AICC president will also address an election rally in Kailashahar and stage a road show in Agartala.BJP, for the first time, has emerged as a big challenger to the incumbent Left Front government. Since the party is in an upbeat mood and confident of offering an alternative to the LF government, party workers-especially grassroots workers- have been demanding that Modi address more rallies. His characteristic style of addressing the crowd has already found many takers."The people of Tripura got Modi for the first time in an election rally on February 8. The kind of response we got from the crowd has been overwhelming. We are expecting a large turnout in Agartala and Shantirbazar," said Tripura BJP spokesperson Mrinal Kanti Deb. Agartala is an urban constituency where people are more vocal about anti-incumbency, while Shantirbazar is an ST reserved seat.Congress, however, is not perturbed by the fact that Modi will be back on the campaign trail a day ahead of Rahul. In fact, the party is drawing comfort from the fact that the AICC president would be able to pick holes in Modi's speeches and expose the NDA government's failures to the electorate. "Rahulji will give an apt reply to all the hollow promises Modi makes," said Tripura NSUI general secretary Choudhury Zabed Kalam.BJP has allied with the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) to penetrate the tribal vote bank. BJP-IPFT is contesting in all the seats to the 60-member house. In 20 ST reserved seats, BJP has fielded 11 candidates, while IPFT is contesting in nine.Strategists said Modi's visit three days before the election has been planned to make an impression on the minds of voters. "BJP has already emerged as a political alternative to the Left in Tripura. We want people to keep talking about Modi's visit and what he said before the day of polling. We are not at all worried about Rahul Gandhi's visit," a strategist said.A party which found its toehold in one of the last bastions of the Left Front only in the last three years, is heavily banking on the high-pitched campaigns of central leaders, Union ministers as also Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Adityanath concluded his two-day road shows and rallies on Tuesday, promising development for Tripura.In contrast, CPM, which leads the Left Front government, has a deeply entrenched and well-spread-out cadre network. BJP is also a cadre-based party, but it's a new entrant in Tripura politics and not as well entrenched as Left. The saffron party has roped in hundreds of workers from Assam's different ethnic groups, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand to work with Tripura's tribals and other ethnic groups.

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