Tripura BJP seeks to strengthen tribal base to reduce dependence on IPFT, TMP

Agartala, Aug 1 To lessen its dependency on tribal-based parties, the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) and the Tipra Motha Party (TMP), the ruling BJP has intensified efforts to further strengthen its organisational base in tribal-inhabited areas of the northeastern state.

Both the TMP and the IPFT are the allies of the BJP.

BJP's prominent tribal leader and party's General Secretary Bipin Debbarma said that a mega public rally of tribals would be held in Agartala on August 9 as part of the party's efforts to mobilise the support of the tribals, who constitute one-third of Tripura's four million population.

"We expect more than 15,000 tribals from West Tripura district and nearby districts would participate in the big gathering in Agartala.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha and other state leaders would address the gathering," Debbarma told IANS.

On Thursday, the BJP government increased the monthly honorarium for tribal community leaders.

Chief Minister Manik Saha in a post on the X said: "In a significant decision by the State Cabinet, the monthly honorarium for tribal community leaders (Samajpatis) has been increased from Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000. This decision reflects the government's commitment to honouring the invaluable role and social contributions of the Samajpatis in the tribal communities."

A senior tribal leader of the BJP said that as a national party, it has always been trying to further consolidate its base among the tribals.

"As a national party, we have a national perception and objective, but the regional parties have different ambitions. Sometimes these create complex situations. That's why we try to strengthen our base among the tribals," the leader said, refusing to be named.

He said that the Central government, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP governments in different states across the country, have dozens of schemes and projects for the all-round socio-economic development of the 11 crore tribals in India.

Amidst the BJP's stepped-up activities to hold organisational programmes in the tribal dominated areas, TMP workers attacked the former's (BJP's) Karyakartas (functionaries) on two occasions in Khowai and West Tripura districts during the past five days, injuring at least ten.

TMP workers attacked BJP functionaries when they assembled at a village in Khowai district during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Mann Ki Baat' programme on July 27, injuring nine Karyakartas.

On Thursday, TMP activists attacked BJP workers at Jampuijala in West Tripura district when the BJP leaders and members were holding a meeting as part of the campaign for the August 9 mega rally.

A BJP member was seriously injured in the attack, and now he is under medical treatment at the government-run Govind Ballabh Pant Medical College and Hospital. Ahead of next year's elections to the politically significant Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), the BJP on July 17 held a crucial meeting -- 'Janajati Chintan Shivir' -- with all elected and organisational tribal leaders.

Tripura Chief Minister Saha, state Party President Rajib Bhattacharjee, Tribal Welfare Minister Bikash Debbarma, tribal leader and former MP Rebati Tripura, all tribal MLAs, TTAADC members and tribal leaders across Tripura attended the daylong 'Janajati Chintan Shivir'.

"The meeting was held to further strengthen the BJP's organisational base among the tribals," Bhattacharjee, also a Rajya Sabha member, had told the media.

Chief Minister Saha in a post on the X, had said: "Under the visionary leadership of Hon'ble PM Shri Narendra Modi Ji, good governance has reached both the plains and hills. The determined efforts of the BJP-led government to bring about socio-economic and political upliftment of the Janajati communities across the country, including the long-neglected NE region, are now bearing fruit."

In Tripura, out of 60 Assembly seats, 20 seats are reserved for the tribals, and the BJP and the Congress have always depended on the tribal based parties to get votes of the tribals.

Tribals always play a crucial role in the electoral political affairs of the northeastern state.

The CPI (M)-led Left Front, which governed Tripura for 35 years in two phases (1978 to 1988 and 1993 to 2018), has also ruled the TTAADC for many years, as the Left parties have a substantial base among the tribals. In the last Assembly polls in 2023, of the 20 tribal reserved seats, the BJP got six seats and its ally IPFT managed one seat.

The then-opposition party TMP, which since March last year became an ally of the BJP, had secured 13 seats in the 2023 Assembly polls.

In a major and far-reaching political development, TMP, during the TTAADC 2021 polls, registered a landslide victory to capture power in the politically important tribal autonomous body, ousting the CPI (M)-led Left parties.

The TMP, headed by former royal scion Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma, became a major political force since April 2021 after it wrested power in the politically important TTAADC, which has jurisdiction over two-thirds of Tripura's 10,491 sq km area, and is home to over 12,16,000 people, of which around 84 per cent are tribals.

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