BJP to take out 'rath yatra' in Tripura ahead of assembly polls
Agartala, Dec 26: The ruling BJP in Tripura will organise a 'rath yatra' across the state from the first of January, as the saffron party gears up for the assembly polls due early next year, a party leader said on Monday.
A three-member committee headed by Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Sushanta Chowdhury has been constituted to oversee preparations for the yatra, he said.
Election to the 60-member Tripura Assembly is due to be held in February.
"One yatra will set out from North Tripura district while another from South Tripura district," BJP media in-charge Sunit Sarkar said.
The party's chief spokesperson, Subarta Chakraborty, said the objective of the yatra is to seek the blessings of people in the run-up to the polls.
"We do believe that people will join the rath yatra' to show solidarity towards the party that has addressed their basic needs," he said.
For the first time, a political party will organise such a yatra in the northeastern state ahead of an election, party sources claimed.
During the 2018 assembly polls, the BJP had conducted several road shows, with a number of Union ministers leading those.
Meanwhile, the saffron party's mega outreach programme - Prati Ghare Shushan' - concluded on Sunday.
BJP national general secretary B L Sontosh, who is in the poll-bound state, held the party's election management committee meeting on Sunday evening to review its preparedness for the assembly election.
Senior party leaders attended the meeting, the sources added.
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Unjustified, says Russia on US pressure on India for buying Russian crude oil
New Delhi, (PTI): The US pressure on India for its procurement of Russian crude oil is "unjustified", a senior Russian diplomat said on Wednesday.
We are confident that India-Russia energy cooperation will continue notwithstanding the external pressure, Russian Deputy Chief of Mission Roman Babushkin said.
It is a "challenging" situation for India, he said at a media briefing and added that, we have "trust" in our ties with New Delhi.
In the context of Western punitive measures against Russia, Babushkin said the sanctions are hitting those who are imposing them.
To a question, he said the role of BRICS as a stabilising force will increase amid the ongoing global turbulence.
His remarks came against the backdrop of strain in India's ties with the US following President Donald Trump doubling tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent that included an additional penalty of 25 percent for purchasing Russian crude oil.
US President Trump this month issued an executive order slapping an additional 25 percent tariff on Indian goods as a penalty for New Delhi's continued purchase of Russian oil.
Defending its purchase of Russian crude oil, India has been maintaining that its energy procurement is driven by national interest and market dynamics.
India turned to purchasing Russian oil sold at a discount after Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow and shunned its supplies over its invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022.
Consequently, from a mere 1.7 percent share in total oil imports in 2019-20, Russia's share increased to 35.1 percent in 2024-25, and it is now the biggest oil supplier to India.
