Opposition Tipra Motha Party to join BJP-led ministry in Tripura

Agartala, March 6: After hectic parlays for the past year and the signing of a tripartite agreement with the Centre and the Tripura government on March 2, the opposition Tipra Motha Party (TMP) will join the BJP-led coalition government in the state, adding a new twist to Tripura's politics.

Sources said that incumbent opposition leader and senior TMP legislator Animesh Debbarma and party MLA Brishaketu Debbarma are likely to take oath as Cabinet ministers at the Raj Bhavan on Wednesday evening or Friday.

“Chief Minister Manik Saha is scheduled leave for Malda in West Bengal on Wednesday to attend a political event. TMP supremo Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barman is also out of the station. In view of this, the date of the swearing-in-ceremony would be readjusted,” the sources told IANS.

Media reports said that one or two MLAs from the ruling BJP are also likely to be included in the Council of Ministers headed by Chief Minister Saha.

Since the BJP-led alliance assumed charge for the second consecutive term on March 8 last year, three ministerial berths are lying vacant.

Another tribal-based party, the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), is also an ally of the BJP-led government, and its lone MLA Sukla Charan Noatia is a Cabinet minister in charge of Cooperation, Tribal Welfare (TRP and PTG) and Welfare of Minorities Departments.

The TMP, in its maiden electoral battle in the February 16 Assembly polls held last year, had fielded 42 candidates, including 20 on the tribal reserved seats. The party had won 13 seats with a vote share of 19.69 per cent, as it highlighted its demand for 'Greater Tipraland' or a separate state for the tribals under Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution.

After the Assembly polls, the TMP became the second-largest party in the state to secure the main opposition party status.

After wresting power in the politically important Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) in April 2021, the TMP intensified its agitation in support of its ‘Greater Tipraland’ demand, which has been strongly opposed by the ruling BJP, Left Front, Congress, Trinamool Congress and other parties.

The TTAADC, which has jurisdiction over two-thirds of Tripura's 10,491 sq km area, and is home to over 12,16,000 people, of which around 84 per cent are tribals, is, in terms of its political significance, the second most important constitutional body in the state after the Tripura Assembly.

On March 2, the TMP had signed a tripartite agreement with the Center and the Tripura government 2 in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha and others.

According to the agreement, a Joint Working Group/Committee would be formed to work out and implement the mutually-agreed issues in a time-bound manner to ensure an 'honourable' solution to tribals' demands.

“The agreement was signed amicably to resolve all the issues of the indigenous people of Tripura relating to their history, land rights, political rights, economic development, identity, culture, language etc.,” the agreement said.