Agartala, September 6:
Senior Congress MLA and former Minister Sudip Roy Barman on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the BJP-TIPRA Motha alliance, alleging that the two parties have adopted a pattern of joining hands in alternate elections while fighting each other in between, which he described as an attempt to ‘fool’ Tripura’s indigenous people.
Reacting to the decision of the BJP, TIPRA Motha and IPFT to jointly contest the upcoming TTAADC Village Committee elections, Roy Barman questioned the political rationale behind the repeated shifts.
“2023 you fight separately, 2024 you fight together, then in the ADC election you fight separately, and now again you will fight as friends. What is this?” he asked, referring to the 2023 Assembly elections, the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the April 2026 TTAADC elections and the forthcoming Village Committee polls.
He alleged that the arrangement had become a “trend and pattern”, with the two parties changing their electoral arithmetic according to the election. “This means in 2028, again you will fight separately,” he said.
Roy Barman particularly targeted TIPRA Motha supremo Pradyot Kishore Debbarma, questioning what he described as the party’s failure to secure concrete gains for indigenous people after joining hands with the BJP.
“What is the net result till now? Zero. And it will remain zero,” he said, adding that the people of Tripura would ultimately judge the political understanding.
The Congress leader also questioned the status of the March 2, 2024 tripartite agreement between the Centre, Tripura government and TIPRA Motha. The agreement committed the parties to addressing issues concerning indigenous people, including history, land and political rights, economic development, identity, culture and language, through a time-bound process. The Centre later constituted a Joint Working Group in August 2024, with MHA North East Affairs Adviser A.K. Mishra as convenor.
Roy Barman asked why Mishra was not present at the latest meeting at Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s residence and questioned what had happened to the promised mechanism for taking the accord forward.
“This was just another political meeting. After two-and-a-half years, again they have gone back to the 2024 era,” he alleged.
The Congress MLA also questioned why Pradyot Kishore Debbarma, whom he described as the “king” fighting for the constitutional rights of indigenous people, should have to repeatedly seek assurances from the BJP leadership.
“If your demands are within the framework of the Constitution, why should you beg?” he asked, while urging the TIPRA Motha chief to take a firm position on the rights of indigenous people.
Roy Barman claimed Congress had clear positions on constitutional safeguards, financial provisions, language and the use of Roman script for Kokborok, and said these issues should be pursued independently rather than through electoral arrangements with the BJP.
The BJP and TIPRA Motha had been political opponents in the 2023 Assembly election, but after the March 2024 accord, TIPRA Motha joined the BJP-led state government and the two parties worked together during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. They again contested separately in the 2026 TTAADC elections, where TIPRA Motha won 24 of the 28 seats.
Following their latest meeting in New Delhi, however, BJP, TIPRA Motha and IPFT have decided to contest the forthcoming Village Committee elections together, with the polls scheduled for coming September 28.
Roy Barman said the repeated political shifts had left the indigenous electorate with questions that only the parties could answer. “How long will you play with the sentiments and emotions of the indigenous people?” he asked.
