TIPRA Motha rules out seat tie-up with BJP, says will contest 35-45 seats

Tripura’s newest tribal outfit, the Motha had swept the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) polls in 2021, just two months after it was founded.

On Friday, Motha chief Pradyot Kishore Debbarma — also the titular head of the Tripura royal family — said he is now looking to contest in 35-45 seats, indicating he would put up candidates outside the 20 seats reserved for STs.

With its Delhi meeting setting off speculation, Pradyot clarified on social media, “Contrary to rumours, there has been NO talks of seat-sharing as reported with any party! We have received intimation from Ministry of Home Affairs that they would like to talk to us on our demand for a constitutional solution for Greater Tipraland. Relax – we know how to negotiate for our people to the maximum.”

In a video message, he added, “Many people have speculated in last three days that we are about to strike an alliance… unless anyone gives us in writing that they will fulfill our constitutional demand, I would not ally… in the last 46 years, every Tiprasa party went to Delhi and brought some agreement back before elections. But after polls, Tiprasa didn’t get anything.”

Reiterating that Motha would not compromise on its core demand, he said, “We went to Delhi and heard what they said, so that they couldn’t say we didn’t go despite being called.”

He added, “I shall fight this election to defeat those who are against our demand. Be ready. Jitega toh jitega, harega toh harega lekin is bar one last fight to zaroor karenge hum (Win or lose, but we shall fight one last battle this time).”

After landing at Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport in the afternoon, he told The Indian Express, “We shall fight. It could be on 35, 40 or 45 seats. It’s more important to fight for dofa (community) than to stay in fear for entire life. Let God decide. Our power comes from above, not from Delhi or Kolkata.”

If the Motha were to fight alone in 35-45 seats as hinted by Pradyot, it could significantly affect the electoral equation for all players. No tribal party has fought the Tripura Assembly polls without allying with a national party since 1977. While the Tripura Upajati Juba Samiti (TUJS) allied with the Congress in 1988 to form government, the IPFT tied up with the BJP in 2018, not to mention the INPT, NCT and other parties that have, over the years, unsuccessfully tied up with the Congress.

Most of these alliances were based on issues like greater autonomy to the TTAADC, tribal development, high-powered committee for socio-economic and cultural development, etc. Even the IPFT, which fought the 2018 polls on a ‘Tipraland’ statehood demand, later signed a common minimum programme with the BJP, minus its core agenda.

Pradyot has tried to allay fears of ethnic discord due to his statehood demand, repeatedly saying his party is not against any community. He even fielded a non-tribal candidate in the Surma Assembly bypoll last year, and has promised tickets to non-tribals, including Bengalis, Manipuris, Bishnupriya Manipuris, Muslims, tea garden workers.

Pradyot’s TIPRA Motha was floated in 2021 with a single-point demand of ‘Greater Tipraland’ — a separate state for Tripuri tribals who live across Tripura, parts of Assam, Mizoram and Bangladesh.

Since the Motha swept the TTAADC elections, several tribal parties, including the National Conference of Tripura (NCT), Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra (INPT), Tipraland State Party (TSP), and IPFT-Tipraha — a breakaway faction of the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT), BJP’s ruling alliance partner — have held alliance talks with it. Since IPFT founder-president N C Debbarma passed away earlier this month, the BJP ally too has held merger talks with Motha, pitching the royal scion’s party as the largest tribal force in the state.

Naturally, all sides, including the ruling BJP and the Opposition, have tried to ally with the Motha. The Left Front (LF) and the Congress, which have entered into a seat-sharing agreement for the 2023 polls, have publicly appealed to the Motha to join forces and defeat the BJP. Even after announcing its candidate list, the LF said it would redo it if the Motha wanted to join hands.