Differences have emerged between Tripura's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and its alliance partner, the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), ahead of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) polls.
The rift came to light with the IPFT's declaration to contest the polls in alliance with the state's royal scion, Pradyot Kishore's social organization The Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA) last week.
Both of them formed the alliance through signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to bring an end to “socio-economic deprivation” of the indigenous communities.
Pradyot Kishore said if the alliance wins the polls, he would pass a resolution in the autonomous district council demanding a “Greater Tipraland”.
Greater Tipraland demand seeks to include the indigenous people living in and outside the TTAADC areas of Tripura.
Post the event, the IPFT held meetings with the BJP centering around the autonomous district council polls, but no decision has been announced so far.
BJP Lok Sabha MP Rebati Tripura earlier said the IPFT were given three days to think over their alliance with TIPRA. The ultimatum ended on Tuesday. The IPFT, however, said they were not given a deadline to decide on the alliance.
{{/usCountry}}BJP Lok Sabha MP Rebati Tripura earlier said the IPFT were given three days to think over their alliance with TIPRA. The ultimatum ended on Tuesday. The IPFT, however, said they were not given a deadline to decide on the alliance.
{{/usCountry}}"We were supposed to join another meeting with the BJP on Tuesday, but we postponed it as we are busy in preparing for a mass gathering at Khumulwng, TTAADC headquarters on Wednesday. The meeting will be held in the next two or three days. But we were never given any ultimatum to decide on our alliance with TIPRA," said IPFT assistant general secretary Mangal Debbarma.
The IPFT bagged eight seats in the 60-seated state Assembly to form the government in alliance with the BJP in 2018. The IPFT has two ministers in the chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb's nine-member cabinet. The BJP has 44 seats.
The state government, earlier in January this year, informed the high court, in an affidavit that it would conduct the TTAADC polls before May 17.
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The TTAADC has 30 seats of which 28 are elected and two are nominated. It covers nearly 68% of Tripura.
Rift between the BJP and IPFT came to light earlier with a series of clashes over nominations for Block Advisory Committee (BAC) chairmen, ADC village committee executives and others.
The BJP and the IPFT contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls separately despite being in alliance in the state. The BJP won the state's two Lok Sabha seats.