The Bharatiya Janata Party has begun the year by returning to power in all the 3 States in the Northeast, i.e Meghalaya, Tripura, and Nagaland, held last month.
In Tripura, the saffron party has its CM Manik Saha who will be serving his second term in the office. The party was successful in securing 32 seats out of 60.
In Nagaland, the NDPP which is an alliance partner of the BJP got 25 out of 60 seats and what’s interesting here is the state is set to witness an opposition-free government. The BJP bagged 12 seats, totaling 37 seats for the ruling alliance in the 60-member House.
Other political parties, including NCP, have won 7 seats, NPP – 5, LJP (Ram Vilas), Naga People’s Front (NPF) & RPI (Athawale) – 2 each, JD(U) – 1 and Independents – 4.
Not just LJP (Ram Vilas), RPI (Athawale), JD(U) submitted letters of support to the alliance partners, but theĀ Sharad Pawar-led NCP which has opposed the BJP and formed an opposition trio MVA in Maharashtra against the party has also extended support.
In Meghalaya, the BJP fought against NPP and did a post-poll alliance, and formed a government supporting Cornad Sagma to be the Chief Minister again. The BJP, which had brought star campaigners, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party chief J P Nadda and Shah, managed to win only two seats.
Now On Wednesday after Manik Saha took oath as the CM, Home Minister Amit shah met with TIPRA Motha chief Pradyot Deb Barman whose party fought its first assembly elections and stood strong against the star-studded BJP campaign and secured 13 seats. The HM had lashed out at TIPRA during the campaign and said it had a secret pact with CPI(M)-Congress.
What Is TIPRA Motha And Its Demands?
Pradyot Manikya Deb Barma Bahadur is the current head of the Tripuri royal family and is the titular king, started his career with the Indian National Congress. His father Kirit Bikram Debbarma was a three-time MP and his mother Bibhu Kumari was a two-time Congress MLA who had served as the Revenue Minister of Tripura.
In 2019 he broke up with the Grand Old Party and took a sabbatical from active politics. The same year he founded TIPRA Motha also known as the Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance which was started as a social organization and came to light during the NRC-CAA protest when the 44-year-old raised his voice against the law.TIPRA secured a majority in the 28-memberĀ Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council electionsĀ in 2021.
In the Assembly elections, the 4-year-old party fought with the agenda of providing rights to the indigenous tribal community of the state.TIPRA’s main objective is to ensure the upliftment and development of the indigenous tribals of Tripura who have been marginalized. He has also demanded a separate state named āGreater Tipraland.
A party named Indigenous Peopleās Front of Tripura (IPFT) 2018 fought with a similar agenda in 2018 and secured 9 seats and in 2023 when it allied with the BJP it could get only 1 seat. The TIPRA Motha filled that space.
Why Did Amit Shah Meet TIPRA Chief?
Amid rumors of TIPRA joining the government the TIPRA chief on Wednesday said: “The Hon Home Minister has said that an interlocutor will be appointed within 2-3 months.”Ā “Once we get a permanent solution which is transparent and for the benefit of people and not for a few politicians only then we will view us being part of the government”.
Why Woo TIPRA?Ā
The BJP started a winning spree in the North East in 2016 where it initially did not have a very strong cadre before Modi became PM and was a left bastion.PM Modi instructed his cabinet ministers to visit northeastern states once a year and launched various development projects in the last 5 years which is said to be the key to bringing them back to power as well.
However, the saffron party now wants to level up and attain dominance in the state of Tripura and wantsĀ TIPRA which is number two in the state to join the government. Currently, the BJP only has one seat more than the magic number which is not the position the party would enjoy.
Eyeing Lok SabhaĀ
With just a year ahead of the Lok Sabha elections the BJP captured 46.12% of votes in Tripura East and 51.77% in Tripura West in 2019 the saffron party now aspires to gain optimum in the big game. With an 8.6% (2014 census) Tribal population in the country, they will play a huge role in the general elections.
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