IPFT rejected merger proposal

way2barak Dec 1:  Indigenous Peoples’ Front of Tripura (IPFT), a BJP ally, will continue as a separate political entity and contest elections independently, a senior party leader said on Monday, despite efforts to unite regional parties under the ‘One North East’ platform.

The statement follows a rally organised by the Tipra Motha Party (TMP) on November 27, which aimed to bring together regional parties from the Northeast to work on shared objectives. According to PTI, IPFT leaders were invited to join the event but chose not to merge.

“We had floated IPFT with a mission to achieve Tipraland (a separate state for TTAADC areas) in 2009. In 2021, another party (TMP) was formed, promising Greater Tipraland. The ITFT was invited to join the ‘One North East’ rally (on November 27). We had a meeting of the Central Working Committee (CWC) on Sunday and resolved that the party will continue to maintain a separate political entity,” IPFT president Prem Kumar Reang said at a press conferences.

Reang said that while IPFT will remain independent, it favours contesting the upcoming Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) elections in alliance with the BJP and TMP. At present, all three parties are part of the Manik Saha-led state government