BJP ally Tipra Motha threatens to withdraw support if govt does not fulfil promises

Tripura's ruling coalition partner, the Tipra Motha Party (TMP), on Thursday threatened to withdraw its support from the BJP-led government if the Centre did not fulfil the provisions of the tripartite accord signed on March 2 last year. 

Tipra-Motha supremo Pradyot Kishore Debbarma said that the Centre and the state government are yet to fulfil the provisions of the tripartite accord even as the pact was signed around a year ago in Delhi.

"We are not hankering for power. Our sole aim is to upgrade the socio-economic aspects of the tribals and keep the constitutional rights of the indigenous people," Debbarma said in a video message.

A top state BJP leader said that they would discuss the TMP leader’s demand within their party forum.

After signing a tripartite agreement with the Centre and the Tripura government on March 2 last year, the opposition TMP joined the BJP-led coalition government on March 7 last year and two of its MLAs - Animesh Debbarma and Brishaketu Debbarma - became ministers.

The TMP chief said that politics is not important but upholding the rights of tribals is more important.

"So, unless rights are given to our indigenous people, then the power now enjoyed by some of our people would be temporary. We are ready to make the right decision at the right time and we shall think about it. Our party leaders and members should be ready, if we are not given our rights, if the promises given to us are not fulfilled, we should be ready to stay out of power also," Debbarma asserted.

He said that his TMP has been fighting to protect the identity, language, culture, traditions, land, and future of the minority tribals.

"There is no meaning of remaining in government if we are not able to help and protect our people," the TMP supremo said, asking the party Ministers, MLAs, and members of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) to be prepared to make the right decision at the right time.

He also expressed his deep displeasure over the delay in holding the elections to the 587 Village Committees (equivalent to Gram Panchayat) in the TTAADC areas.

The TMP, which has been governing the politically important TTAADC since April 2021, has also been demanding ‘Greater Tipraland’ (a separate state for the tribals) under Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution.

Now the party is not insisting on their old demand of ‘Greater Tipraland’ and instead, demanding more power to the TTAADC, direct central funding to the tribal autonomous body and further strengthening the council by providing more constitutional powers.

TMP leader Debbarma said that 25 seats in the 60-member Tripura Assembly must be reserved for the tribals and one seat for the Manipuri community.

Debbarma also emphasised the urgent need for the approval of the 125th Amendment of the Constitution by the parliament to empower tribal communities.

Currently, out of the total of 60, 20 seats are reserved for the tribals and 10 more seats are reserved for the Scheduled Caste community. The BJP, along with its other ally, the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), and the TMP fought last year's Lok Sabha elections in Tripura together. However, the TMP fought the 2023 Assembly polls independently and won 13 seats.