NPP, TMP, other NE regional parties likely to join hands to uphold indigenous causes

New Delhi/Agartala, Nov 3 The National People's Party (NPP), led by Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, and the Tipra Motha Party (TMP) chief Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma, along with several other regional parties and tribal leaders, are likely to join hands to uphold the causes of the indigenous people of the northeast region.

A TMP leader said in Agartala that the NPP and TMP chiefs, along with former BJP national spokesperson and Nagaland Minister Mmhonlumo Kikon, and Daniel Langthasa, founder of the People’s Party from Assam’s Dima Hasao, besides several other eminent leaders from Nagaland, Manipur, and other Northeastern states, are expected to be part of the new platform.

Both the NPP and TMP are currently allies of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In an interesting political development, TMP supremo Debbarma, after attending the swearing-in ceremony of the Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) in Assam on October 5, emphasised the need for regional unity in the Northeast.

Debbarma, a former Tripura royal scion, had attended the oath-taking ceremony of Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) President Hagrama Mohilary, who assumed charge as the CEM of the BTC in Kokrajhar district.

It is, however, not yet clear whether the BPF will join the proposed new platform.

"NPP chief Sangma, TMP head Debbarma, and other leaders will brief the media at the Constitution Club in New Delhi on Tuesday and make an announcement about their future plans and mission," the TMP leader said.

After hectic parleys and following the signing of a tripartite agreement on March 2 last year, the then-opposition TMP, which has 13 MLAs, joined the BJP-led coalition government on March 7, 2024, reshaping Tripura’s political landscape. Two TMP MLAs -- Animesh Debbarma and Brishaketu Debbarma -- were later inducted into the Chief Minister Manik Saha-led Cabinet.

The TMP and its frontal organisations have been intermittently organising agitations in Tripura in support of their demands, including the implementation of the tripartite accord and the identification and deportation of illegal migrants.

The party also staged a demonstration in Delhi on September 9 to press for its demands.

Since 2021, the TMP has been governing the 30-member politically important Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), which covers nearly two-thirds of the state’s 10,491 sq km area and is home to over 12.16 lakh people, about 84 per cent of whom are tribals.

In recent months, an up-and-down relationship has continued between the ruling BJP and the TMP.

TMP activists, in a series of attacks across different districts, allegedly injured more than 20 BJP members and workers.

The TMP-affiliated Tiprasa Civil Society (TCS), led by TMP MLA Ranjit Debbarma, observed a 24-hour state-wide shutdown on October 23 in support of its eight-point charter of demands, including the deportation of illegal migrants.

During the shutdown, a section of TMP activists allegedly attacked several people and officials at Santirbazar in Dhalai district, seriously injuring more than a dozen individuals.

Among the injured were Salema Block Development Officer (BDO) Abhijit Majumdar, Kamalpur Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Samudra Debbarma, engineer Animesh Saha, and trader Subrata Paul, all of whom were hospitalised with critical injuries.

With elections to the politically crucial TTAADC due early next year, both the BJP and TMP are working separately to expand their influence among tribal communities.

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