Agartala, March 15: With less than two months remaining for the crucial elections to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), political tensions within the ruling NDA alliance in Tripura appear to be intensifying.
Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha on Saturday reiterated that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is preparing to contest all 28 seats of the TTAADC independently, even as he indicated that the final decision on if any possible alliance arrangement later would rest with the party’s central leadership.
The Chief Minister made the remarks while speaking to reporters after attending a joining programme at Rabindra Bhavan in Agartala, where around 1,336 families—comprising nearly 3,000 voters—officially joined the BJP after leaving mainly the Tipra Motha Party and few from the CPI(M).
The event was attended by BJP state president and Rajya Sabha MP Rajib Bhattacharjee, Ministers Bikash Debbarma, Santana Chakma, former MP Rebati Tripura and BJP Tripura general secretary Bipin Debbarma along with other senior leaders and party workers.
Addressing the gathering, BJP leaders welcomed the new members and expressed confidence that the influx of supporters would strengthen the party’s organisational base in the state ahead of the upcoming ADC elections.
Speaking to reporters later, Saha said that the BJP is witnessing increasing public support across the state, particularly among tribal communities.
He alleged that for many years tribal populations had been treated merely as vote banks by parties such as the CPI(M) and the Congress, while regional forces like the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) and later the Tipra Motha party had also operated in that political space.
Saha, however, clarified that while both Tipra Motha and IPFT are currently allies of the BJP in the state government, the party would not accept every demand or political stance taken by its partners.
“Even though they are our alliance partners, that does not mean whatever they say must be followed by us. If they act within the framework and principles of the alliance, there is no issue. But we cannot accept certain kinds of activities that have been continuing for a long time,” the Chief Minister said.
Reiterating the BJP’s organisational position ahead of the TTAADC polls, Saha said the party intends to field candidates in all 28 constituencies.
“As of now, the decision is clear. Out of the 28 seats, we will contest all 28 seats. Our party president has already stated that in the upcoming ADC elections we will field candidates in every seat and work towards winning them,” he said.
Responding to questions about whether the BJP’s claim over all 28 seats excludes its alliance partners, the Chief Minister said his earlier remarks had been misinterpreted.
“When I said ‘we’, some reporters twisted the statement. By ‘we’, I meant all of us together, including IPFT and the Tipra Motha Party. Whether we fight together or separately will be decided later,” Saha clarified.
At the same time, he noted that the BJP currently sits in the opposition in the TTAADC, where the Tipra Motha Party holds power, and therefore the party considers it natural to stake a claim over all the seats in the council.
“We are already in the opposition in the ADC. Since we are on the opposite side there and not in an alliance in the council, it is natural for us to claim all the seats,” he said.
Saha’s comments came a day after Tipra Motha supremo Pradyot Kishore Debbarma, during a public meeting in Khumulwng, said his party was ready to contest the ADC elections independently if necessary and described the BJP’s stance as a “challenge”.
Asked about the remark, the Chief Minister said the BJP was not stepping back from its position.
“The BJP never retreats. We move forward and face the situation directly. I have already stated our position clearly. Now we will see what happens next,” he said.
Despite the increasingly sharp political signals between the alliance partners, the Chief Minister did not completely rule out the possibility of a joint contest, reiterating that any final decision on seat-sharing or alliance arrangements would ultimately be taken by the BJP’s central leadership.
The TTAADC elections, expected to be held within the next two months, are widely seen as a politically significant contest in Tripura’s tribal belt and could test the dynamics of the BJP-led alliance in the state.
