Tripura in 2023: BJP consolidates position, Tipra Motha rises as major power

The BJP might have won the assembly elections in February 2023 for the second consecutive term and consolidated its position in Tripura, but the polls also brought some changes in the opposition camp. 

The Tipra Motha, founded by former royal scion Pradyot Manikya Debbarma just four years ago, emerged as the main opposition party, while the CPI(M) which ruled the state for 25 years in a row was relegated to the third position in terms of the number of MLAs in the assembly. 

In a surprise move, the BJP replaced Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb with Manik Saha in May last year, a few months before the assembly elections in the northeastern state. The saffron party won 32 seats in the elections to the 60-member Assembly while its ally IPFT bagged one seat. The Tipra Motha secured 13 seats while the CPI(M) and its alliance partner Congress got 10 and three seats respectively. The BJP, however, increased its tally to 33 in a by-poll. 

The CPI(M)-led Left Front was dethroned after 25 years by the BJP-IPFT combine in 2018. The 2023 elections were the first since 1978 when the Left party could not win a single seat from the state’s tribal belt. On the other hand, the Tipra Motha won 13 out of the total 20 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes. 

The Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) area is two-thirds of the state’s territory and is the home to the tribals. In the TTAADC elections held in April 2021, Tipra Motha bagged 18 of the 28 seats that went to polls. The Tipra Motha went to the 2023 elections with a demand for a separate Greater Tipraland state to safeguard the lives of the tribal people. 

The concept of ‘Greater Tipraland’ has not been specified, though it is supposed to include parts of several other northeastern states and Bangladesh, besides Tripura. As the Tipra Motha stricks to the Greater Tipraland demand, the Centre sent AK Mishra, advisor to the Ministry of Home Affairs, who held meetings with the chief minister and representatives of political parties to find ways for development of the tribal people but no tangible move is seen yet. 

Tipra Motha supremo Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma, however, is hopeful of a ‘constitutional solutation’ to the problems of the indigenous people. The state in 2023 also witnessed infrastructure development. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina virtually inaugurated Indo-Bangla rail connectivity (Gangasagar to Nischintapur), opening a new route to connect Agartala with Kolkata via railway. The ambitious railway project built with a cost of Rs 1255 crore will substantially shorten the travel distance from Agartala to Kolkata. 

The distance from Agartala to Kolkata via Guwahati which is now 1600 km will be reduced to only 500 km through the railway via Dhaka. And, the travel time will decrease from 38 hours to 10 hours but the service is yet to be flagged off. The move is expected to boost the economy of the state. 

Former Indian cricket captain Saurav Ganguly formally signed a memorandum of agreement as the state’s brand ambassador to promote tourism globally.