Agartala, September 6: Tipra Motha senior leader and MLA Ranjit Debbarma on Sunday said the implementation of the Tripartite Agreement has gained a “time-bound” direction following the recent high-level talks between the BJP and Tipra Motha in New Delhi in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, with the crucial land-rights component expected to be drafted within 15 days.
Speaking to reporters after returning from New Delhi, Debbarma said the Chief Minister had assured that work on implementing the agreement would begin this month.
He said the government had also agreed to move the authority for distribution and registration of certain land in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTADC) from the state administration to the ADC’s zonal and sub-zonal authorities.
“We have been fighting for land rights in the ADC area. The government has now agreed to give that right,” Debbarma said, adding that he was hopeful that the land-rights draft and necessary amendments would be completed within 15 days.
He said a central team is expected to visit Tripura to hold consultations with civil society groups and other organisations on the modalities of implementing the land-rights provisions.
Debbarma, however, stressed that the proposed changes would not take away the rights of non-tribal residents living in the ADC areas.
He said the amendment would be framed in a manner that protects existing rights and does not create resentment among any section of society.
“The rights of Bengali and other non-tribal people living in the ADC area will remain protected,” he said, emphasising the need to implement the agreement without disturbing communal harmony in the state.
The Tipra Motha leader said the party was hopeful because the land-rights issue had been a central demand of its political movement. At the same time, he cautioned that if the commitments were not implemented within the agreed timeframe, the party would discuss its future course of action internally.
The latest development comes alongside the decision of the three NDA partners—BJP, Tipra Motha and IPFT—to jointly contest the forthcoming TTADC Village Committee elections.
Debbarma expressed confidence that the two principal partners, BJP and Tipra Motha, would be able to persuade their respective supporters to work together on the ground despite the bitter political contest between them in the last TTADC election, including clashes and confrontations between supporters.
“Politics has many things. We will convince the people,” he said, asserting that the differences could be resolved quickly.
The seat-sharing ratio, however, remains to be finalised. Debbarma said a meeting of the parties was scheduled on Sunday to assess their respective organisational strengths and decide the allocation of seats.
He indicated that seats would be distributed according to the ground-level influence of the three parties—where Tipra Motha is strong, it would contest; where BJP has greater influence, BJP would be given the seat, while areas where IPFT has a stronger base would be considered for the party.
The arrangement will be closely watched against the backdrop of the previous TTADC election, when BJP and Tipra Motha were bitterly opposed despite being eventual political allies at the state level. Their immediate challenge will be to translate the latest leadership-level understanding into a workable grassroots alliance ahead of the Village Committee polls.
