Tipra-Motha MLA threatens to withdraw support from BJP-led Tripura govt

Ruling BJP’s ally Tipra Motha on Saturday threatened to withdraw support from the government, accusing it of failing to implement the tripartite accord and curb illegal infiltration from Bangladesh.

Senior Motha leader and party MLA Ranjit Debbarma said that the party leaders would meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah and would discuss their pending demands.

“If the meeting with the Union Home Minister failed to resolve our issues, then we would withdraw support from the BJP government in Tripura,” Debbarma told the media.

The withdrawal of support by the TMP would not have any impact on the stability of the BJP-led government, as the saffron party enjoys an absolute majority with its 33 MLAs.

BJP leaders refused to make any comments at the moment on the Motha’s decision.

In the 60-member Assembly, the BJP holds a majority with 33 MLAs, and its another ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), has one MLA.

After a year-long hectic parleys and after signing a tripartite agreement with the Centre and the Tripura government on March 2 last year, the then opposition TMP with 13 MLAs joined the BJP-led coalition government in the state on March 7 last year, adding a new twist to Tripura's politics.

On March 7 last year (2024), two Tipra-Motha MLAs -- Animesh Debbarma and Brishaketu Debbarma -- were inducted into the ministry headed by Chief Minister Manik Saha.

Motha leader Debbarma said that the BJP government did not implement the provisions of the tripartite agreement even after more than 15 months of signing the accord in Delhi in the presence of the Union Home Minister.

Their demands include greater autonomy for the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) and development of the tribals’ socio-economic conditions.

The Tipra-Motha, though, originally demanded a ‘Greater Tipraland’ or a separate state for the tribals under Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution. The ruling BJP, the opposition CPI-M and the Congress have been opposing the TMP’s ‘Greater Tipraland’ demand.

The Motha, headed by former royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarma, contested the 2023 Assembly polls separately, but in March last year, after joining the BJP-IPFT coalition government, became the partner of the state government. Motha and the IPFT are both tribal-based parties.

The CPI (M) currently has 10 MLAs in the state assembly while the Congress has three. The CPI (M)-led Left Front and the Congress had a seat-sharing arrangement for the elections.

Motha became a political force in April 2021 after it wrested power in the politically important TTAADC, which has jurisdiction over two-thirds of Tripura's 10,491 sq km area, and is home to over 12,16,000 people, of which around 84 per cent are tribals.

Tribals, who constitute one-third of Tripura’s four million population, always play a crucial role in the electoral politics of Tripura.