On Monday, the Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA Motha) released its list of candidates for the upcoming Tripura Assembly elections.
Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma’s party has chosen Nitai Sarkar to represent Bamutia, Swapna Debbarama for Mandaibazar, Biswajit Kalai for Takarjala, Ashish Das for Kamalasagar, MD Shah Alam Miah for Bishalgarh, Manav Debbarma for Golaghati, Abhijit Sarkar for Teliamura, Kshir Mohan Das for Kakraban-Salgarh, Abhhijit Malakar for Rajnagar, Pathan Lal Jamatia for Ampinagar, Nandita Debbarma Reang for Raima Valley and Ranjan Sinha for Chandipur.
Pradyot Deb Barma, amid the hypothesis of a potential alliance with the ruling BJP, took to Twitter to clarify that no affiliation will be formed with anyone for the upcoming state Assembly polls.
In a video message to his followers, he declared that he would not agree to any coalition unless the government of India officially and constitutionally fulfilled the requirements of the Tiprasa tribe in writing.
Barma expressed his dissatisfaction with the current political system, noting that since 1974, every Tiprasa regional political party has gone to Delhi to form an agreement prior to an election, only to return without any of their demands being met by the Indian government. He asserted that he would not make the same mistake again, declaring that no alliance would be formed unless the needs of the Tiprasa community were met.
“I have said this before and am repeating it, and we will not compromise on our demands. We went to Delhi to discuss, and we heard them. If we didn’t go, they would’ve mentioned that despite the invitation, we skipped the meeting,” added Deb Barma.
Reports indicate that the Left and Congress have formed an alliance, yet the ruling BJP is still searching for a partner. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has recently published a list of 43 candidates, comprised of many fresh faces. Sources have also confirmed that former chief minister, Manik Sarkar, will not participate in the upcoming elections.
As per the seat-sharing agreement between Congress and the Left, Congress will contest for 13 seats in the upcoming election, leaving the remaining 4 seats open for other smaller parties.
Pradyot had invited the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) to ally with his group on January 19.
In 2001, the BJP and INPT formed an alliance that ended in 2009. However, the parties re-joined forces for the 2018 Assembly elections and secured 8 out of 9 seats they contested.
READ ALSO:
Election Commission Showcases Remote EVM for Migrant Workers
Congress to Launch Second Major Campaign Following Bharat Jodo Yatra on January 26
