Rise and fall of regional parties in Tripura, 'experiment' for CPI-Congress combine

The Assembly elections in Tripura on February 16 will decide the possible rise and fall of two regional parties, Tipra Motha and IPFT respectively in the tribal-dominated seats while it is going to be an “experiment” for the CPM-Congress, contesting the elections in seat-sharing arrangement for the first time.

Many believe that Tipra Motha’s demand for “Greater Tipraland” may lead to its rise in state politics, particularly in at least 21 tribal-dominated constituencies. The IPFT, on the other hand, may see further shrink in its popularity mainly due to its decision to renew the pre-poll alliance with BJP despite the saffron party’s stance against Tipraland.

The IPFT, a regional party, which spearheaded the agitation for Tipraland state in the past and contested elections on the same issue, won eight out of nine seats it contested in 2018. The IPFT entered into a pre-poll alliance with BJP after the saffron party reportedly promised to address the demand for Tipraland.

Read | BJP left no stone unturned to develop state: PM Modi in Tripura

The IPFT had even won the elections for Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTADC), having 21 Assembly constituencies. But it lost power in the TTADC in March 2021 to Tipra Motha, led by scion of erstwhile Tripura Royal family, Pradyot Deb Barma, who made “Greater Tipraland ‘’ its main poll plank. Deb Barma even rejected the offer for alliance both from BJP and CPM-Congress combine for their stand against Tipraland. “The IPFT has become irrelevant now. Tipra Motha will win the elections this time,” Deb Barma told DH on February 4 at Agartala. Motha has put up candidates in 42 out of 60 constituencies.

“The kind of crowd Tipra Motha’s rally is pulling suggests it has penetrated well into the tribal vote bank of the IPFT. If such support turns into votes, we may see Tipra Motha’s rise and IPFT’s fall this time, particularly in the tribal-dominated constituencies,” veteran journalist Sekhar Datta told DH. “But it needs to be seen whether tribal voters will go for promises of development by BJP-IPFT combine or the old issue of Tipraland,” he said.

BJP is contesting in 55 seats and gave only five seats to IPFT, four short of 2018. Deputy CM and BJP’s prominent tribal face, Jishnu Dev Verma, during an interview to DH also admitted that IPFT has lost popularity compared to 2018. “We gave them five seats because we believe in taking our allies along for the state’s development,” he said.

The IPFT leaders, in fact, have stopped talking about Tipraland since they decided to renew the pre-poll alliance with BJP for the ensuing elections.

‘Wave against BJP’

Although the CPM and Congress are claiming that people would vote for them as there is a “wave against BJP,” leaders within the two Opposition parties consider this election as an “experiment” to test the waters on whether people are in favour of the understanding between “arch rivals,” Congress and CPM. The CPM and Congress are contesting the elections in seat sharing agreement for the first time in Tripura. The left parties have fielded candidates in 47 constituencies and Congress in 13. Both parties are supporting an Independent candidate too.

Ideological differences are there between us, but people this time wanted us to unite in order to defeat BJP,” CPM leader Jitendra Chaudhury, said. Choudhury, a tribal leader, believes that both tribals and non-tribals would vote for the CPM-Congress combine. But the majority Bengali voters, constituting nearly 70% of Tripura’s population, are going to be the target of both BJP and the CPM-Congress.