Tripura’s ruling ally IPFT wants separate benches for MLAs in state Assembly

Speaking to indianexpress.com, IPFT spokesperson Mangal Debbarma said party leaders had written to Tripura Assembly Speaker Rebati Mohan Das seeking provisions for separate benches in the Assembly.

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IPFT has now sought separate benches for their MLAs in the state legislative assembly. (File)

Amid differences with ally BJP, the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) has now sought separate benches for their MLAs in the state legislative assembly.

Since the coalition government assumed charge in March 2018, IPFT supremo and Revenue Minister Narendra Chandra Debbarma has been sitting right beside Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Devvarma and Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb in the state Assembly. All other IPFT legislators have been sitting closely with their BJP colleagues.

IPFT’s demand for separate benches in the House comes after the party failed to strike alliances with BJP in the panchayat bye-elections, Lok Sabha polls and the ongoing rural body elections.

Speaking to indianexpress.com, IPFT spokesperson Mangal Debbarma said party leaders had written to Tripura Assembly Speaker Rebati Mohan Das seeking provisions for separate benches in the Assembly.

“We are in the ruling alliance and there is no chance of disrupting the alliance. But we are also a separate political party and there are issues that our legislators need to discuss among them. So, we have demanded separate benches on the floor of the Assembly,” Mangal said.

BJP, meanwhile, has stayed tight-lipped so far. BJP’s state spokesperson Dr Ashok Sinha said the party didn’t receive any communication on the issue from IPFT.

“They have directly written to the Speaker. We have received no official document on this issue so far,” Sinha said. However, he said if the IPFT wished to sit in separate benches, the saffron party would not object to it.

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“If their demand is agreed, they would only be sitting in separate benches. They wouldn’t be separating with us. We wouldn’t have any problem in that,” the spokesperson said.

The allies have earlier clashed with each other regarding the nomination of Block Advisory Committee (BAC) chairmen. The tribal party previously claimed that over 100 party workers were injured in a series of assaults since Lok Sabha election results were announced on May 23.