A day before the Opposition parties in Tripura lock horns with the ruling BJP-IPFT alliance for election of a new Assembly Speaker, Home Minister Amit Shah called Tipra Motha Chief Pradyot Deb Barma and assured that an interlocutor would be appointed by March 27 to find a "constitutional solution" for tribals in the state.
"Woke up to an early morning call from the honourable home minister @AmitShah to enquire about my health. He also categorically assured me that by the 27th of this month an interlocutor will be announced for our talks regarding the constitutional solution for our indigenous people of Tripura," Deb Barma tweeted on Thursday morning.
"I hope the home minister will understand the sentiments of Tiprasa and honour the commitment he has given to me," the tweet further said.
After the meeting between Shah and a delegation of Tipra Motha members led by Deb Barma on March 8 at Agartala, Pradyot told reporters that the Home Minister assured them to appoint an interlocutor for talks to address their demand. But the party was reportedly irked over the delay in naming the interlocutor and Chief Minister Manik Saha's recent comment against Tipra Motha's demand for 'Greater Tipraland'.
Tipra Motha subsequently announced that it would sit in the Opposition and on Tuesday it decided to support senior Congress MLA, Gopal Roy, as the new Speaker in Tripura Assembly. Roy was named as a candidate by the Opposition CPI(M) and Congress against Biswabandhu Sen, a senior BJP MLA. Election for the Speaker is scheduled for Friday.
Out of the 60 Assembly seats, BJP got 31 while IPFT won only one seat. Tipra Motha emerged as the second biggest party with 13 seats in its maiden Assembly polls. The CPI (M) and Congress, which contested the Assembly elections on a seat sharing arrangement, bagged 11 and three seats, respectively.
Tipra Motha had contested the Assembly elections with a demand for 'Greater Tipraland', a separate state for the indigenous people, who constitute about 30 percent of Tripura's population.
After the results, BJP invited Tipra Motha to be part of the government but the party refused to join without fulfilling the demand for "constitutional solution." The party demands a constitutional amendment to offer more powers (legislative, administrative and financial) to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council, in which Tipra Motha is now in power.
The BJP has made it clear repeatedly that the party will not allow division of Tripura. The party's manifesto, however, has assured that it will address demands for welfare of the tribals.
Deb Barma recently said his party would "take on" the BJP-led government, both inside the Assembly and outside, as a "responsible Opposition" till the demand for "constitutional solution" is fulfilled.