The ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Tripura and the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) has decided to continue with their alliance for the upcoming assembly polls.

This announcement was made by the state chief minister Manik Saha in Agartala on Saturday evening.

The announcement comes within hours after the Tipra Motha indicated that its merger talks with the IPFT had gone cold. The talks were on till Friday night.

CM Manik Saha said that the BJP has allotted five seats to the IPFT against nine seats in the 2018 assembly polls.

Saha said, "Happy to announce that BJP-IPFT alliance will continue in the ensuing Assembly polls. As decided in a joint meeting, our alliance partner IPFT will contest the polls in five seats."

Meanwhile, the BJP released a list of candidates for 54 of the state's 60 seats, leaving five for IPFT.

The BJP has released a list of 40 star campaigners for the Tripura election including stalwarts like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda, Union minister Nitin Gadkari and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Elections for the 60-member Tripura assembly are scheduled to be held on February 16. Nominations must be submitted by January 30. Counting of votes will take place on March 2.