A new nativist party upends Tripura’s political landscape, leaving even the BJP behind. Pradyot Kishore Manikya Deb Burman, chairman of TIPRA, talks about their fundamental demand: Greater Tipraland.
The fledgling Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA) has swept the elections to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council, winning 18 seats with its ally INPT. TTAADC has 30 members, of which 28 are elected. The ruling BJP won just 9 while its ally IPFT failed to open its account, One seat went to an independent candidate. The Left Front, which had ruled the state for 25 years, drew a blank as did the Congress.
Pradyot Kishore Manikya Deb Barman, TIPRA chairman and a scion of Tripura’s erstwhile royal family, tells Bhavna Vij-Aurora that the indigenous people of the state have expressed their anger against the BJP-IPFT for failing them. Excerpts…
You launched TIPRA as a social organisation. Why did you convert it into a political party?
The other regional parties could not take an independent line on the issue of Greater Tipraland. I realised that the state needs an independent narrative rather than a national narrative. As an independent party which wants to safeguard the identity of the people of Tripura we have our own narrative.
Why do you think that the people have rejected the BJP, voting for a new party?
People voted for the BJP because they thought it will fulfil its demand for Tipraland. However, it has done nothing. The regional parties are no longer demanding that. I did not launch the party to come to power. I do not want to become a MP or a minister. I am fighting for a Greater Tipraland and once achieved, I need not even be in politics.
How do you plan to achieve your avowed goal of Greater Tipraland?
We need to talk to leaders of national parties in Delhi. Their local leaders cannot do anything. What we are asking for is well within the Constitution and would fight for it. Like the Bru settlement, which was done at Delhi, I am requesting the Centre to consider a solution to the problems of the indigenous people. We are looking for a solution and not a negotiation.
There is a buzz that you may ally with the BJP before the 2023 assembly elections. Is that a possibility?
I am willing to ally with any party that agrees to our demand for Greater Tipraland, whether it is the Congress or the BJP. But I will not go for any empty promises. It has to be given to us in writing, in black and white.
Do you think that your party’s victory shows that people prefer regional parties?
I have been told by many people that had TTAADC elections happened before Assam assembly polls, it would have definitely had an impact on the results there. Assam and Tripura are the worst sufferers of CAA. Congress has got even less votes than NOTA. The party got 20-30 per cent votes when I was with it. The BJP has 18 per cent vote share while ours is 47 per cent.
You left the Congress only on the issues of CAA and NRC?
Yes. I am against the CAA but have been fighting for implementation of NRC in Tripura. My case seeking NRC for Tripura is pending in the Supreme Court.