Parties re-orient strategies in Tripura for votes against 'Greater Tipraland'

"No no...none wants Tipraland here," came the quick reply from Pratyush Debnath as the shopkeeper stressed that non-tribals in Tripura would not vote for Tipra Motha, the regional party contesting Assembly elections with "Greater Tipraland" as its main poll plank.

Tipra Motha led by Tripura's Royal scion Pradyot Deb Barma rejected offers for alliance both from the ruling BJP and the Opposition CPI (M)-Congress combine and has put up candidates in 42 out 60 Assembly constituencies.

"We will defeat all who oppose Tipraland," Deb Barma said on Saturday evening while releasing the "Vision Document" of his party inside the Royal Palace compound here. Although Tipra Motha is considered strong in at least 20 seats reserved for the STs, Deb Barma claimed many among 16 non-tribal candidates put up by his party would taste victory. "They are very strong leaders. We demand Greater Tipraland but we are not against any community, be it Bengalis, Muslims, Nepalis," he told DH.

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Deb Barma's efforts to win the hearts of non-tribals and voters outside Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTADC) has made the national parties to be more vocal against "Greater Tipraland." "Voting for Tipra Motha is nothing but wastage of your votes. Tipra Motha can not form a government," BJP leader and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said at a rally in Khowai district on Friday. "Greater Tipraland means division of Tripura. His family, the Royal family, created Tripura and he wants to divide the state now," Sarma said.

Sources said BJP is focussing more on the non-tribal Bengali voters, comprising nearly 70 per cent of Tripura's population as they expect Motha to win in the TTAADC areas. BJP this time has retained its alliance with IPFT, another regional party, which also demanded Tipraland before the 2018 elections. The party leaders are also talking about Hindutva issues like construction of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, to keep its Hindu votes intact.

The CPI (M) and Congress are, for the first time, contesting the Tripura elections with seat sharing agreement but they too have not agreed to Tipra Motha's demand for "Greater Tipraland '' fearing backlash from the majority non-tribal votes. Trinamool Congress, which has put up 28 candidates, too has taken a stand against Tipraland.

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"Because they know that a stand in favour of Greater Tipraland for the tribals may create a sense of fear psychosis among the Bengalis," senior journalist Sekhar Datta told DH. "No one wants to revive the ethnic troubles Tripura witnessed in the 1980s. Besides, Tipraland looks impossible as it seeks to curve out areas in Assam, Mizoram and in Bangladesh," he said. "Even many tribals understand this and they will vote for CPI (M) and BJP," Datta said. The TTADC areas have nearly 30 per-cent non-tribal votes.

Dulon Tripura, 23, a tribal student, from Dombur in Gomati district (under TTAADC), however, believes that most tribals would vote for "Greater Tipraland" as a separate state would bring more funds and more opportunities. "There will be more jobs for us," Dulon, a student of History in BBMC College in Agartala, said.

Tripura goes for Assembly polls on February 16.