Tripura Polls: BJP Sweating Over TIPRA-IPFT Alliance

Ahead of assembly elections in Tripura, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) central leadership has been left scratching its head with a new alliance emerging in the northeastern state.

According to reports, BJP is worried with TIPRA Motha led by royal scion Pradyot Manikya Debbarma and Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) flirting on the lines of a partnership.

With that in mind, it has now come to the fore that Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Union home minister Amit Shah sat for a meeting.

Meanwhile, TIPRA Motha is adamant with its demand for Greater Tipraland.

On the other hand, TIPRA Motha chief Pradyot Debbarma was also reportedly part of the meeting with the Union home minister in New Delhi today. Debbarma upheld the demand for greater Tipraland, while negotiating for a state within the state.

Earlier this month, IPFT, an ally of the BJP in Tripura, convened a "closed door meeting" with party leaders of TIPRA Motha in Guwahati on January 22, in a significant development with the crucial assembly elections upcoming in Tripura.

Also Read: Ahead Of Tripura Polls, BJP Ally IPFT Holds Merger Talks With TIPRA

According to sources, discussions were held on IPFT’s merger with TIPRA Motha royal scion and former top Congress leader Pradyot Manikya Debbarma.

Informing about the meeting, Pradyot Debbarma took to twitter and wrote, “Met the IPFT leadership yesterday and asked them to consider becoming one party! Time is short and I hope they do the right thing.”

On January 19, Assam CM and North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma met Pradyot Debbarma in New Delhi. Though CM Sarma sought to downplay its significance, saying Tripura BJP-related matters are being handled by a separate team of the party, Pradyot said that he made his position clear that he will not move away from his demand for a separate state “come what may”.

It may be noted that there are around 20 tribal-dominated seats in the 60-member Tripura assembly. TIPRA Motha had won the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) elections in 2021.

Also Read: Tripura: 1,200 Non-Tribals Join TIPRA Motha Led by Royal Scion