TIPRA Motha gets another shot in the arm as ex-minister Mevar Kumar Jamatia joins party

Jamatia, who resigned as an MLA on Tuesday, said he wanted to work for the people of Tripura, irrespective of tribal and non-tribal origins, but was not allowed to do so. He blamed the BJP for this and said his efforts to provide benefits to tribals through a Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)-run high power modality committee, to elevate the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) to Tripura Territorial Council (TTC) and his push to clear nearly 20,000 government posts did not see the light of the day.

“I come from a regional party. If we cannot apply pressure on central and state governments, our party becomes meaningless. IPFT has no activities, no movement. How can people support them? We could not pressurise the government and the government could not perform. I tried to work but was not allowed. BJP is responsible for this,” he said.

Jamatia, who was once close to Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma before he changed sides and joined IPFT, later rose to the ranks of the tribal party to become its general secretary.

Jamatia used to be the protégé of IPFT’s founding president and veteran tribal ideologue Narendra Chandra Debbarma. However, the two had a falling out earlier this year after Debbarma lost to Jamatia in the party’s internal election process yet decided to hold on to his position, suspending Jamatia from all posts instead. He was later dropped from the cabinet after incumbent Chief Minister Manik Saha replaced Biplab Kumar Deb in May this year.

“I have been waiting for the right time to join TIPRA Motha. In my opinion, Bubagra (Pradyot) is the true icon in our state. I believe we can achieve something under his leadership. He has called for thansa or unity. Unity is required among people at this point. So, I have joined him,” Jamatia said, adding that many IPFT leaders are in touch with Motha over the issue.

A large section of IPFT leaders had earlier joined TIPRA Motha this year, including Jamatia’s wife and his close associates.

Striking a contradictory note, Jamatia said he was not allowed to work properly but was “satisfied” with his performance as a minister for 4.5 years. “I am satisfied with my work. But that is a temporary phase…schools, colleges and schemes are temporary solutions for the development of tribals. The constitutional solution is the permanent solution,” he said.

Jamatia joined Motha on Wednesday along with several IPFT leaders and supporters and former CPI(M) tribal leader Chandan Tripura.

Jamatia’s departure comes weeks after former IPFT MLA Dhananjoy Tripura’s resignation on October 14, saying he wanted to work for the “cause of Tiprasa (tribals)”. He later joined Motha, just like his former Assembly colleague and ex-IPFT MLA Brishaketu Debbarma, who joined Motha last year.

Brishaketu, however, was expelled only a few months back following a hearing over IPFT’s complaints against him. His resignation was not accepted due to technical errors in the resignation submission process.

Apart from the trio, tribal BJP MLA Burbumohan Tripura also resigned in September and joined the TIPRA Motha party.

Formed in 1982, Tripura ADC is spread across nearly 70 per cent of the state’s geographical area and houses one-third of the state’s population from 19 tribal communities. The tribal council, which was ruled by the Left Front for three previous terms, saw TIPRA Motha sweep the elections last year,  reducing the Left alliance to zero.

TIPRA Motha is considered a major political force in Tripura, especially since 20 out of 60 seats in the state Assembly are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) and 10 others have tribal voters as a determining factor. The royal scion-led party holds significant sway among tribal voters with political experts saying the statehood demand that catapulted IPFT to power in 2018 is still resonating with voters.

Besides, the recent by-poll results earlier this year where TIPRA Motha came second with a non-tribal candidate at Surma, an SC-reserved constituency, suggests the party might have a crucial vote bank in non-ST seats as well.

Pradyot said on Wednesday that his party would field candidates in more than just the ST-reserved seats in Assembly polls next year. “Motha will fight in many more seats than just the tribal seats. We shall field candidates from other communities and religions. We shall put up candidates from 10,323 retrenched school teachers, people of Muslim, and Bengali communities, and people of the Scheduled Caste (SC) communities…We are trying to do something different. I am trying to change the dynamics of regional parties,” the TIPRA Motha chief said.

The tribal party is organising a mass gathering on November 12 at Vivekananda Maidan in Agartala. Calling for a change in the culture of politics, Pradyot said TIPRA Motha would not hold any rally but would peacefully put forth the constitutional demand of a separate state.

Meanwhile, Opposition Congress and the CPI(M) have said they are working for a unified struggle against the BJP ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections and have appealed to TIPRA Motha to join the bandwagon.

Reacting to the issue, Pradyot said, “We are fighting already. About a unified alliance, we have not allied with anyone since our party started. Those who ask for unified movement should first set their house in order. After the elections, we shall see who has what and then decide. But we shall not ally with any party who does not give us a constitutional solution of statehood in writing.”

Pradyot has been known to be confident of his party’s prospects. Earlier in June this year, he threw an open challenge, saying, “Without Motha, nobody can form a government in Tripura. It is my challenge.” However, without significant allies, TIPRA Motha is not yet seen as a strong-enough force to take on the BJP and the IPFT by itself.

Tripura’s tribal politics has had a history of alliance with national parties to succeed and political experts are quick to point out that most TIPRA Motha leaders have very little political experience. Where Pradyot has leverage over his political contenders is his royal lineage which still holds significant sway among tribals.

‘Maharaj’ Kirit Bikram Kishore Manikya, Pradyot’s father and the last crowned prince of Tripura, won in 1967 Lok Sabha polls, defeating legendary Left leader Dasharath Dev, who later went on to become chief minister in 1993. Both Kirit Bikram Kishore and his queen Bibhu Kumari Devi won the Lok Sabha polls. The ‘Rajmata’ won the 1988 Assembly polls and served as revenue minister in the Congress-Tripura Upajati Juba Samiti government from 1988, defeating none other than Manik Sarkar, who would later become chief minister for four terms.

She defeated Marxist veteran Bajuban Riyan in the 1991 Lok Sabha elections and returned to the Parliament, after which she slowly receded from the political landscape. Pradyot, who entered politics in 2008 with Youth Congress, became state Congress president in 2018 and bagged 27 per cent vote share for his party in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, raising it from the ashes after securing 1.7 per cent votes in 2018 Assembly elections just a year before.

However, he left the party in a huff over a disagreement with the party leadership over the National Register of Citizens (NRC) revision, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and other issues. Since then, his work has been mainly to bring all tribal parties under one umbrella.