In a major shift in Tripura's tribal political landscape, “over 11,000 voters from 1,898 families” owing allegiance to the IPFT, from across different parts of the state, Saturday joined the TIPRA Motha party. With this, the TIPRA Motha, which has quickly emerged as the foremost tribal party in the state, is now arguably its largest. Led by Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma, the scion of the erstwhile Tripura royal family, the Motha also heads the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC). Founded just last year, the TIPRA Motha has put in the shade the IPFT, or Indigenous People's Front of Tripura. An ally of the BJP, the IPFT with its tribal base was considered a feather in the hat of the ruling party, and helped fuel it to power in the state in 2018. Before a major chunk of the IPFT, smaller parties like the Tipraland State Party, IPFT Tipraha and the National Conference of Tripura had merged with the Motha. The TTAADC, now almost entirely controlled by the Motha, is spread across nearly 72% of the state's area, though it houses only one-third of the state's population. It gives Motha a say over 20 of the 60 Assembly seats in Tripura that are reserved for STs. In another signal of its popularity, a non-tribal candidate fielded by it from an SC seat in the recent bypolls came second. The IPFT, which won eight Assembly seats in the 2018 Assembly elections, is now badly bruised after a series of splits as well as cracks down the middle. The latest was provoked by tribal stalwart N C Debbarma declining to acknowledge the election of Mevar Kumar Jamatia as the IPFT president. The Jamatia faction has accused Debbarma of being a BJP stooge, and of diluting the IPFT's core demand of Tipraland, a separate state for tribals. Jamatia himself has expressed support for Motha's Greater Tipraland plank, and while he hasn't joined Motha, most of his supporters and even his wife have crossed over. The IPFT supporters who joined the Motha Saturday said the Pradyot Kishore-led party was the only one truly fighting for statehood, and that others too would change sides soon. The Motha has called for 'thansa' or unity to achieve this. The defection is also seen as a fallout of the war of upmanship between the two biggest tribal names in the state, Kishore and Debbarma. One of the leaders now with the Motha is serving IPFT general secretary Dhananjoy Tripura. "We supported the IPFT due to its promise of Tipraland. They moved away, betrayed the people. After September, many more IPFT leaders will come. At least four MLAs are directly in talks with us,” he said. The Motha's sweep of the TTAADC elections last year suggests the resonance for the statehood demand among tribal voters. However, unlike the IPFT's 'Tipraland', with its boundaries limited to the peripheries of the TTAADC, Motha's 'Greater Tipraland' version is still largely undefined, with ambitious aims to bring in Tripuri tribes living in Tripura, parts of Assam, Manipur, even neighbouring Bangladesh. As Opposition parties look for allies, the TIPRA Motha is holding firm that it won't sit down for talks with anyone without a written understanding on their statehood agenda. On Saturday, Kishore declared: "Without Motha, nobody can form the government in Tripura. It's my challenge.” He also warned his supporters that if they were not on the winning side, the ruling party (read the BJP) “would not spare us”. Opposition parties have been alleging wide scale violence against them, coinciding with the recent bypolls. Other parties hope realpolitik will force Kishore to do a climbdown as without significant allies, the Motha can't dream of taking on the BJP, which still has remnants of the IPFT with it. Most of the leaders of the Motha, including Kishore, have little or no experience of fighting elections. There are also concerns regarding Kishore's health. The Congress is among those with its eyes on the Motha, and supported its candidate in the bypolls. A former Congress state president, Kishore had left the party in 2019 after delivering 27% votes to it in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls – a huge jump from 1.7% the year before. The reason for his exit was disagreement over the CAA/NRC and other issues. The CPM, that with its Communist stand is against the royals, downplays the appeal of both tribal parties, and their statehood calls as "divisive" and "unsupportable". The BJP insists it is not ruffled by the TIPRA Motha's rise. Spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharya claimed the party has a strong tribal organisation and was ready to even contest alone, if needed. He also called the Motha “a facade of Left parties” to create unrest and reap political benefit. The IPFT, meanwhile, is hoping N C Debbarma's appeal as a time-tested leader will finally prevail over Kishore's popularity. Debbarma has questioned the Motha's claims, saying the IPFT's Tipraland demand is logical, concrete and more acceptable.
