Tipra Motha rises as a force to reckon with in Tripura | Deep Dive

The Tipra Motha won all 13 seats in a Tribal-dominated assembly. Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma said during campaigns that his party would be the kingmaker in Tripura.

Tipra Motha chief Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma

By Ashish Ranjan, Afrida Hussain: The incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party has managed to win Tripura again. However, the more significant outcome of the assembly elections has been the rise of the Tipra Motha led by royal scion Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma. That a party which was formed in 2019 could win 13 seats with a 20 per cent vote share is an extraordinary achievement.

More significantly, the Tipra Motha won all 13 seats in a Tribal-dominated assembly. Pradyot has said during campaigns that his party would be the kingmaker in Tripura. While that did not happen – the BJP managed to bag a thin majority – the Tipra Motha managed to heavily dent the ruling saffron party’s hold in the state.

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In 2018, the BJP and the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura alliance won 18 out of the 20 seats reserved for Schedule Tribes. This time, however, the alliance managed to win only seven of those seats. The rest went to the Tipra Motha. In fact, it received 17 per cent more votes than the BJP alliance in these reserved seats.

The BJP alliance received 25 per cent fewer votes compared to 2018 in the reserved seats. This clearly indicates that tribal voters are either not happy with the incumbent government or that they trust the new entrants – the Tipra Motha – much more as their new representative.

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The Tipra Motha was founded on the promise of protecting indigenous peoples’ land, cultural, political, and economic rights in Tripura through the demand for Tipraland, a proposed state for the indigenous Tripuri people, and constitutional guarantees for minorities, STs, tea garden workers, Meetei, Bishnupuriya, and tribal communities, among others.

The Tipra Motha’s early success arrived in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) election in 2021. Now, it’s the second-largest party in the state assembly. This is certain to boost the confidence of its chief.

Who is Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma?

Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma’s father was first elected as an MP from the Congress party nearly 56 years ago in 1967. He was elected again in 1977 and 1989. Then, his mother, Bibhu Kumari Devi, entered politics. However, she left the Congress party in 1998, and following that, no one from the royal family was part of electoral politics for a long time.

Pradyot began his political career as a Block Congress president before becoming state general secretary of the All-India Youth Congress in 2006. He started campaigning to become the Congress state president in 2019.

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Pradyot has always been in the opposition ever since he entered politics. He left the party over disagreements on the Citizenship Amendment Act and the Congress’ soft policy in Silchar, West Bengal, and Tripura in support of the CAA. Pradyot also had a falling out with the AICC general secretary, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, and Sonia Gandhi, and resigned from the Congress party.

In 2020, Pradyut established the Tipra Motha as an NGO to highlight the issue of regional parties working together. But the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura and other regional political parties refused to work together as a pressure group. Then, with the help of his young cadre, Pradyot transformed the Tipra Motha into a political party. It began with a few hundred members in 2021 and now, in 2023, has over a couple of lakh registered members.

Notably, along with public support, IPFT MLA Mevar Kumar Jamatia from Asharambari constituency, Dhananjay Tripura, MLA from Raima Valley constituency, and former MLA Brishaketu Debbarma joined the party in November TTAADC MLA Burba Mohan Tripura and Opposition Leader in TTAADC Hangsha Kumar Jamatia have joined the party.

The Tipra Motha has momentum right now. And while the BJP retained its power in the state, Pradyot’s party could be a formidable opponent. Only time will tell if Tipra Motha will be able to sustain this momentum.

(Ashish Ranjan is a political analyst and co-founder of Datalok.in)

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