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Tripura polls: TIPRA Motha announces 2nd list of candidates for 10 seats
The second list included three from Scheduled Tribe (ST), one from Scheduled Caste (SC) reserved seat and rest from unreserved
The Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA) Motha party in Tripura released its second list of ten candidates.
This development comes hours after the party had released the first list of 20 candidates.
The second list included three from Scheduled Tribe (ST), one from Scheduled Caste (SC) reserved seat and rest from unreserved.
Former Congress legislator Tapas De who joined TIPRA Motha last year, supremo of All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) Ranjit Debbarma are among the candidates in the second list.
The first list was released late on Saturday, hours after the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), with whom the TIPRA Motha had sought a merger, announced it would continue its alliance with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state.
Also Read: Tripura polls: Royal scion’s TIPRA Motha announces candidates’ list in 20 seats
The list comprised names of candidates for 12 Scheduled Tribe reserved seats, two Scheduled Caste (SC) reserved seats and six unreserved seats. Twenty seats are reserved for the Scheduled Tribe (ST) in the assembly.
Tripura royal scion and party chief Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma did not figure on both the lists.
Among those fielded are IPFT legislator Brishaketu Debbarma – who switched over to TIPRA Motha in 2021 – from Simna, his home turf.
Party leader Subodh Debbarma has been fielded from Charilam constituency. Deputy chief minister and veteran BJP leader Jishnu Devvarma is contesting the polls from this seat.
ADC chief executive member Purna Chandra Jamatia will contest the polls from Bagma and his deputy, Animesh Debbarma, from Asharambari seat.
Animesh will be facing former IPFT supremo Narendra Chandra Debbarma’s daughter Jayanti Debbarma from the seat.
TIPRA Motha spokesperson Paul Dangshu will contest the polls from Karamcherra, against newly-joined Congress leader Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl.
Hrangkhawl was among six legislators who switched over to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in 2016 and then to the BJP a year later.
In the non-tribal seats, the party’s citizen frontal wing - Citizens Forum fielded Abu Khayer Miah has been given a ticket from Buxanagar while Shyamal Sarkar and Bilas Malakar have been nominated from Surma and Fatikroy constituencies – both reserved for SCs – respectively.
Manihar Debbarma has been fielded from Kalyanpur-Pramodenagar seat.
Arup Deb, Ashi Ram Reang, David Munda and Joy Chung Halam have also been fielded from Hrishyamukh, Amarpur, Chandipur and Panisagar seats, respectively.
The TIPRA Motha has been demanding a Greater Tipraland – a separate state for the indigenous people.
It swept the TTAADC elections in April last year over its demand, winning 18 of the 28 seats in a direct contest with the ruling BJP-IPFT alliance.
Pradyot Barma recently announced to contest the elections alone after his party’s meeting with the BJP-led NDA government over the demand for Greater Tipraland which did not yield results.
His party tried to merge with the IPFT. The merger didn’t materialise and he decided to contest the polls in an alliance with the BJP.
Polling for the 60-member assembly will take place on February 27. The results will be declared on March 2.
