Agartala: Tripura BJP spokesperson Mrinal Kanti Deb on Tuesday reacted to the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura's (IPFT) decision to go it alone in both Lok Sabha seats in 2019 general elections.

He said, "The BJP's alliance with the IPFT was to form the state government in Tripura. The Lok Sabha election is a different issue. There is no question of forcing the IPFT to take any stand."

He also said if its alliance partner contested separately in the Parliament polls, it would not affect the BJP's poll prospects.

"We are a national party and have got supporters across Tripura. We shall contest depending on our supporters. The IPFT may contest separately. It will neither affect our alliance in government, nor our poll prospects," Deb said.

"The BJP announced its decision to contest both Lok Sabha seats in Tripura without consulting us. We were forced to take this decision to contest alone," IPFT assistant general secretary Mangal Debbarma told this correspondent on Tuesday.

The decision was taken a meeting of the party's high- level coordination committee on Monday, he added.

The BJP and IPFT together hold 44 seats in the 60-member Tripura Assembly and are partners in the state government.