Agartala, September 3: With the Supreme Court recently serving notices to the state and union government on the long-pending Village Committee (VC) elections following a case filed by Tipra Motha founder Pradyot Kishore Debbarma, the BJP in Tripura has begun tightening its organizational grip in tribal areas.
On Wednesday, the party convened a crucial meeting of its tribal leadership at various levels, including Mandal representatives, to assess grassroots preparedness for both the VC and Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) polls.
The meeting, held at the party headquarters in Agartala, saw the participation of senior leaders such as BJP Tripura in-charge G.R. Ravindra Raju, state president and MP Rajib Bhattacharjee, Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha, tribal Ministers Santana Chakma and Bikash Debbarma, Janajati Morcha president and former MLA Parimal Debbarma, former MP Rebati Tripura, general secretary Bipin Debbarma and others.
Speaking to reporters in the sideline of the meeting, both CM Saha and state president Bhattacharjee exuded confidence in the party’s preparedness, stressing that BJP is ready to contest the VC and ADC elections.
They added that the discussions also focused on addressing tribal issues jointly through coordination between the government and the party.
Highlighting the BJP government’s tribal welfare agenda, the leaders said that indigenous people had faced long-term neglect in the past, but since Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office, development schemes have reached the grassroots level, benefitting communities in Tripura as well. “This message of development must be taken to every household,” they emphasized.
However, a shadow of uncertainty still lingers over whether the BJP will contest the elections in alliance with Tipra Motha or go solo.
With relations between the two NDA partners strained in recent months, sources suggest that a significant section of the BJP’s Janajati Morcha leaders are reluctant to fight the tribal-area polls jointly.
The final call on the alliance strategy remains uncertain, even as the BJP intensifies its preparations in the TTAADC areas, which span over 68 percent of Tripura’s territory and house nearly one-third of the state’s 40 lakh population, predominantly from indigenous communities. These areas are considered the stronghold of Tipra Motha, which currently controls the lone District Council.
