TIPRA Motha chief readies 10-point agenda for talks with Centre, appeals to all parties to join dialogue

Pradyot Debbarma says among the things his party wants to discuss are Greater Tipraland, the demand for an autonomous state under Article 244A, direct funding of Autonomous District Councils’ police force, and land rights

TIPRA Motha chairperson Pradyot Debbarma. (Photo: Twitter/@PradyotManikya)

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TIPRA Motha chairperson Pradyot Debbarma has said that once the Union government appoints an interlocutor to discuss his party’s demand for a “constitutional solution” to issues of tribal welfare, the party will put forth 10 points based on which discussions can take place.

Among the 10 points will be Greater Tipraland, the demand for an autonomous state under Article 244A of the Constitution, direct funding of Tripura Autonomous District Councils’ (ADCs) police force, and land rights. Debbarma, in a video message on Thursday evening, appealed to political parties to discuss the demands to facilitate the constitutional solution.

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The CPI(M) has criticised the government’s promise to TIPRA Motha about appointing an interlocutor, saying it is similar to “dangling a carrot in front of a horse to keep it running”. The Left party’s state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury has said that several interlocutors were appointed in Nagaland since 2016 but a solution was still out of reach. He referred to Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha’s comments that the BJP-led government would never accept the demand for Greater Tipraland and said contradictory statements by various sides were creating confusion.

Debbarma said in the video statement that although the TIPRA Motha had 13 MLAs, it would not sit in the treasury benches till the constitutional demands were met. He also responded to rumours about the possibility of TIPRA’s MLAs defecting to other parties, saying, “I can guarantee none of our MLAs will go anywhere.”

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Responding to the accusation that he asked tribals not to vote for the CPI(M) and the Congress, Debbarma said the data shows these parties failed to get votes from their own “communities”. The TIPRA chief said, “Why did the blame come upon me? If this is your justification, then why did you field candidates in seats where you didn’t stand a chance? They (Congress-CPI-M) fielded (candidates), votes got divided, and we came second in some seats only because they polled much higher than the winning margin.”

Without naming anyone, Debbarma said the BJP won many of the seats where votes got divided and admitted that “mistakes were made by all sides”. However, he asked why fingers were pointed at him alone and said it was wrong to call someone a “dalal (middleman)”.