Tripura Polls: 'Greater Tipraland' stirs the pot

Credit: DH Graphic

The opposition Congress and the CPI(M) have tied up for the first time to take on the ruling BJP-IPFT coalition in Tripura, which will go to polls on February 16. But the newborn Tipra Motha Party and its demand for a separate state – Greater Tipraland – for the indigenous tribal communities of the northeastern state have made both the ruling and opposition alliances jittery.

The demand for a ‘Tipraland’ has since long been the main poll plank for the IPFT or the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura. The BJP managed to forge an alliance with the in 2018 with a promise to address the issues of the tribal communities of the state. The elections in 2018 ended the 25-year-long rule of the Left Front in Tripura and brought the BJP-IPFT combine to power for the first time. The “Narendra Modi wave” and the promise of development helped BJP defeat the leftists in the constituencies in the plains with non-tribal majority, while the IPFT won eight constituencies in the hills, where tribal voters are the deciding factors.

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The IPFT, however, started losing its grounds since then, mainly due to its ally BJP's alleged failure to fulfill the promises made for the welfare of the tribal community – majority in at least 20 constituencies in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) areas and a few others elsewhere. The IPFT, BJP and other parties lost the TTAADC elections in March 2021 to Tipra Motha, a forum of regional parties, led by the scion of the royal family of the state, Pradyot Deb Barma.

Deb Barma quit the Congress following the anti-CAA agitation in 2020 and subsequently formed the Tipra Motha, which Motha not only harped on the demand for Tipraland ahead of the TTAADC elections, but has made “Greater Tipraland” its biggest poll plank ahead of assembly elections. The party has fielded 42 candidates with a target to “defeat all those opposing Greater Tipraland”. Deb Barma rejected the offers for alliance both from the BJP as well the CPI(M)-Congress combine as they declined to give him a written assurance about fulfilling the demand for “Greater Tipraland”. Interestingly, Tipra Motha has fielded non-tribal candidates in at least 16 constituencies making it clear that Deb Barma would try to go beyond the TTAADC in order to make a mark in the elections. "We want Tipraland but we also want protection and welfare of the non-tribal people," Deb Barma, who decided not to contest the polls this time, said.

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The IPFT decided to continue with the alliance with BJP, which, however, categorically rejected the demands that could lead to division of the tiny state. The BJP has put up candidates in 55 constituencies and have given the remaining five to IPFT. "We had to take a tough decision regarding the alliance for unity of Tripura and its people," the BJP's lead strategist for the northeastern region and the chief minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, said in Agartala on January 30. "Although we did not break the alliance with the IPFT, the BJP will form the next government alone," said Sarma.

Manik Saha, who succeeded Biplab Kumar Deb as the chief minister of Tripura in June 2021, claimed that the BJP would win at least 55 seats.

The CPI (M) and Congress, on the other hand, tried to woo Tipra Motha to a seat-sharing arrangement till February 2, the last day for withdrawal of nominations. Jitendra Choudhury, a tribal leader spearheading the CPI (M)'s campaign in the elections, said that the party supported "maximum autonomy" to the tribals for their empowerment and welfare, but would oppose "geographical and cultural" bifurcation of Tripura.

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"(The) BJP still seems to be in an advantageous position given the divided opposition on Tipraland issue and its success in maintaining the alliance with IPFT," said Vikas Tripathi, who teaches political science in Gauhati University. "However, the Tipraland issue may be a challenge for the BJP too in a few seats," he said. The Trinamool Congress, which chose to contest the polls in all the 60 seats without an alliance, is also opposed to the demand for "Tipraland."