New Delhi: Alleging a “clandestine understanding” between the Left Front and the Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA Motha), Tripura state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Rajib Bhattacharjee has said that his party’s manifesto for this month’s assembly election is focussed on tribal people because they’re in need of development. “Bengalis know we are for all — sabka saath sabka vikas sabka vishwas,” Bhattacharjee told ThePrint Friday.
Bengalis and tribals form the bulk of voters in Tripura, with tribals making up about 10 lakh of the the state’s total of more than 28 lakh voters.
The BJP manifesto released Thursday has a slew of promises for tribals, including a monthly financial support programme, a higher honorarium for community leaders in tribal areas, and the restructuring of the tribal district councils to give them greater autonomy.
In comparison, there was little targeted specfically towards Bengali Hindus — whose population in the state numbers over 30 lakh according to the 2011 Census — other than a pilgrimage scheme and the promise of a subsidised food canteen named after a prominent religious leader.
The BJP won Tripura’s last election in 2018 in alliance with the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura, a tribal outfit. The Left Front — which traditionally had a strong support base in the tribal areas — was reduced to just two of the 20 seats where tribal voters have a predominant say.
However in the autonomous district council election of 2021, the BJP was battered by the TIPRA Motha, which has emerged as the primary party voicing tribal concerns and forcing all others to focus on tribal issues, too.
The Motha, now being seen as a kingmaker in the state with national parties wooing it, has announced that it will contest the assembly election alone. Although it was diligently wooed by both the BJP and the Congress-Left sides, talks fell through over party chief Pradyot Debbarma’s insistence on a written commitment to ‘Greater Tipraland’ — a separate state for the indigenous people of Tripura.
Bhattacharjee said, “It is not correct that there has been no development of tribals in the past five years. The fact of the matter is, we did development, not sloganeering. We understand the development of tribals is important for the development of the state. In the past, tribal sentiments were used to fuel insurgency. Dhalai, which has a huge tribal population, has been made an aspirational district.”
He added, “Bengalis and people from the hills have lived together in Tripura for a long time. We do not look at people as segments; we look at overall development. The manifesto has separate provisions for tribals because they need development. It’s not correct to say it has nothing for Bengalis.”
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‘Motha misleading tribals’
Bhattacharjee alleged that a systematic campaign by the Motha had caused the BJP to lose the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), and the people have now understood their mistake.
“We did not win because the Motha misled the tribals. But now they understand what a double-engine government (a reference to the combination of BJP governments at the state and central levels) can achieve. We alone have the courage to talk about development and don’t just give slogans,” said Bhattacharjee, who is himself fighting the assembly election from the Banamalipur constituency.
He added, “It took 23 years for the resettlement of Bru refugees (fleeing ethnic persecution primarily from the neighboring state of Mizoram) and it was done by the Government of India after talking to the Mizoram government. People understand these things. Motha basically won on the CPI(M) vote. Even now they are helping each other. They abuse each other behind their backs, but are in a clandestine understanding to help each other.”
The BJP state president also asserted that “Tripura will never accept anybody with CPI(M) links”, despite the state having been ruled by the Left Front from 1993 to 2018.
Asked about the multiple meetings BJP leaders — including home minister Amit Shah and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma — have had with Debbarma in a bid to stitch together an alliance , Bhattacharjee said, “That’s because we believe in alliances. The government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee had 23 members, even the Modi government has allies. Talks fell through because on no account could we condone a division of the state of Ma Tripureswari (a reference to the demand for Tipraland).”
Claiming that while TIPRA Motha may have won the ADC elections, their performance in terms of governance has been poor, Bhattacharjee alleged, “In Kumlung where the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council is located, we had sanctioned the building of a hospital and the government gave Rs 30 crore for it. Leave alone a hospital, not even a brick has been laid in that spot to date.”
CM change
With barely 10 months to go before the elctions, the BJP in May 2022 replaced then chief minister Biplab Deb with Manik Saha, who subsequently fought a byelection from Town Bardauli to become an MLA. He is currently seeking re-election from the same seat. According to Bhattacharjee, the move should not be linked in any way to Deb’s performance as he seems destined for “bigger things”.
“There will obviously be an advantage for us because of the change in chief minister. It was a decision from Delhi to change the CM, but no can one question his performance when he has now been given a bigger role. He is an MP and has been given responsibility for a state like Haryana. It was under the leadership of a man like Narendra Modi that Tripura has made a place on the map of India. Clearly, better things lie ahead for us,” he said.
The Tripura BJP chief is evasive, but doesn’t dismiss speculation that if the BJP wins the upcoming elections there may again be a new chief minister in the state. The name that seems to be doing the rounds is that of Protima Bhoumik, Union minister of state in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, who has been fielded from the Dhaunpur constituency.
“Whatever the leadership decides will happen. Even my being the president of the party of which I have been a member since 1991 or my fighting from Banamalipur are because the leadership so desired. We are all disciplined soldiers of the party,” Bhattacharjee said.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
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