Tipra Motha chief alleges bid to split party ahead of TTAADC elections

Tipra Motha Party (TMP) supremo Pradyot Kishore Debbarma on Saturday alleged that there was a conspiracy to split the tribal-based party, which is currently an ally of the ruling BJP in Tripura.

Addressing a mass gathering at the headquarters of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) in Khumulwng, Debbarma said that Chief Minister Manik Saha, while addressing a public rally at Dhumacherra in Dhalai district, announced that the BJP would field candidates in all 28 seats in the upcoming TTAADC elections.

“By announcing that the BJP will contest all 28 seats, the Chief Minister has effectively broken the alliance between the two parties. We are not breaking the alliance; the Chief Minister himself has split it,” the TMP chief said.

He added that if the BJP fields candidates in all 28 seats, the “Tiprasa people” (tribals) would defeat the BJP in the upcoming polls.

“Our aim is to maintain unity among all tribal communities. Among the tribals, there are people who belong to both Christian and Hindu faiths, but we are not doing politics along religious lines. Tribals are very poor and our party is fighting for their economic, constitutional and land rights,” said Debbarma, a former royal scion.

The TMP chief’s remarks came amid media reports that a section of TMP legislators, including a minister, might join the BJP before the TTAADC elections.

Chief Minister Manik Saha on Thursday dismissed reports that TMP leader and Forest Minister Animesh Debbarma and a few other party MLAs were planning to join the BJP, calling them rumours.

Since 2021, the Tipra Motha Party has governed the politically significant 30-member council, which comprises 28 elected members and two nominated by the state government.

In the 2021 TTAADC elections, the BJP contested 11 seats and won nine, while a BJP-supported independent candidate also secured victory.

The TMP won 18 seats and wrested control of the council from the CPI(M)-led Left Front.

The council covers nearly two-thirds of Tripura’s 10,491 sq km area and is home to more than 12.16 lakh people, around 84 per cent of whom belong to indigenous communities.

Ahead of the upcoming TTAADC polls, major political parties, including the BJP, its allies Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) and the Tipra Motha Party, as well as opposition parties such as the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Indian National Congress, have intensified efforts to consolidate support among tribal voters.

The elections to the TTAADC are expected to be held in April.

Tribals constitute nearly one-third of Tripura’s total population of about 4.2 million, making the upcoming council elections a crucial political contest in the state.

The tribal-based TMP, led by Debbarma, has been a junior partner in the ruling BJP-led government since March 2024.

After prolonged negotiations, the TMP, then in the opposition, signed a tripartite agreement with the Centre and the Tripura government on March 2, 2024, in the presence of Union Home Minister Shah.

Subsequently, the party, which has 13 MLAs, joined the BJP-led coalition government on March 7, 2024, adding a new dimension to the state’s political dynamics.

Two TMP MLAs -- Animesh Debbarma and Brishaketu Debbarma -- were inducted into the ministry led by Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha.