Agartala, Sep 5 (PTI) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Saturday said the BJP would fight for the upcoming village committee polls in alliance with its two partners — the Tipra Motha Party (TMP) and Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT).
The announcement came a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting with Saha and Tipra Motha founder Pradyot Kishore Debbarma amid differences between the two allies over an electoral understanding for the polls and the regional party’s demand for land rights for indigenous people.
Elections to 587 village committees of Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) will be held on September 28. The elections, originally scheduled for 2016, could not be held for various reasons.
The TTAADC covers around two-thirds of Tripura’s geographical area and a large part of the state’s indigenous population, making control over tribal politics crucial for both parties.
Interacting with reporters at the airport here, the chief minister said, “We had a meeting with TMP supremo Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma and the BJP’s northeast coordinator Sambit Patra at the residence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Friday, where the tripartite agreement and an alliance for the upcoming elections were discussed in detail.” The TMP had signed an agreement with the Centre and Tripura government on September 4, 2024, for the overall development of the state’s indigenous people.
“In the meeting, it was decided that the BJP, TMP and IPFT will jointly contest the village committee elections. Seat sharing will be finalised at the earliest,” he said.
The BJP contested the elections to TTAADC alone in April and faced a crushing defeat, with the TMP winning 24 of the 28 seats.
On the implementation of the tripartite agreement, Saha said all issues will be sorted out.
“Since the process for the village committee of the tribal council got underway, the implementation of the accord will start next month. Each issue of the accord will be implemented in a phased manner”, he said.
Earlier, TMP founder Pradyot Kishore had declared there would be no alliance without written assurance from the Centre on the implementation of the accord. PTI PS NSD
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