Tipra Motha to contest alone in Tripura assembly polls

way2barak,  Feb 1 : Tipra Motha Party (TMP) will contest alone in the Tripura assembly election. Putting rest to all speculations, the influential tribal based party on Wednesday announced that party would contest the elections without alliance with any party.

The TMP has fielded candidates in 41 seats – 20 in tribal reserved and remaining in general and Scheduled Caste reserve seats.

TMP chief and former royal scion Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barman said, “Adani, Ambani and other industrialists are providing financial support to the BJP, Congress also getting financial support from big industrialists and the CPI-M getting financial support from Kerala government,” Deb Barman, in social media posts, urged the people to donate funds for the TIPRA or TMP.

Deb Barman tweeted : “A small party on a Bigger Mission is seeking your support. Come Forward and Donate to TIPRA ! Remember, every contribution counts ! Note: We are not accepting any donation through any other account or UPI number.”

CPI-M Tripura state Secretary and the party’s central committee member Jitendra Chowdhury while addressing an election rally in southern Tripura on Tuesday said that talks are on with the TMP or TIPRA for seat adjustments.

TMP or TIPRA supremo earlier held a series of meetings with the ruling BJP’s ally Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) for a seat adjustment but the IPFT leaders supporting the TMP’s demands did not forge any alliance with Deb Barman’s party.

The IPFT, since 2009, has been demanding to make the areas under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) as a full-fledged state while the TMP or Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA) since 2021, has been demanding elevation of the TTAADC areas by granting of ‘Greater Tipraland State’ or a separate state under Article 2 and 3 of the Constitution.

The ruling BJP, CPI-M led Left parties, Congress and the Trinamool Congress though have been strongly opposing the demands of both IPFT and the TMP or TIPRA, these parties have tried a lot to make seat adjustments or forge an electoral alliance with the TMP or TIPRA.

However, the TMP or TIPRA did not field any candidate in the Sabroom assembly seat from where CPI-M’s nominee and state party secretary Jitendra Chowdhury is contesting.

The TMP or TIPRA is now ruling the politically-important 30-member Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC).which has jurisdiction of over two-thirds of Tripura’s 10,491 sq km area with a population of about 1.2 million people, of which 90 per cent are tribals.

In 2018 BJP contested 11 tribal reserve seats while its ally IPFT contested nine tribal reserve seats and won 9 and 8 seats respectively and the remaining two tribal reserve seats went in favour of the CPI-M, which has earlier strong base both among the tribals and the scheduled caste communities.

In 2018, in the 60-member Tripura Assembly, the BJP altogether won 36 seats, IPFT eight seats and the CPI-M got a total of 16 seats.