Looks like 'Operation Lotus' is on: TIPRA chief claims IPFT leaders not picking up calls

Tripura's royal scion urged Tipra Motha workers to prepare for the polls and said he will also fight the elections to "defeat those who are opposing our demand".

Agartala, Jan 28: Tipra Motha supremo Pradyot Kishore Manikya Deb Barma on Saturday claimed that "Operation Lotus" is on in Tripura as none of the IPFT leaders are taking his calls.

His statement comes amid speculations that the Tipra Motha is going to ally with the ruling BJP in the ensuing polls to the 60-member assembly.

"All the ipft leaders are surprisingly not picking up their calls ! Been waiting to hear from them since 11 am ! Looks like Operation lotus is on !" Barma tweeted.

"There were speculations that the Tipra Motha will fight the elections in alliance with a political party. Today, I am saying that there will be no alliance in this election," Barma said.

"Until the Government of India gives any written document for a constitutional solution to our demand, we will not go for any coalition....Jitega toh jitega harega toh harega but one last fight to karke rahega ! (whether we win or lose, we will put up one last fight)," he said in a video clip uploaded on Facebook.

The royal scion also said that many people could not believe that the Tipra Motha would fight the elections without any alliance.

"I don't blame those who don't believe in our stand. Since 1977, every regional 'Tiprasa' party went to Delhi before elections and signed agreements but the people got nothing after polls," Debbarma said in an indirect attack on the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), the ally of the ruling BJP in the northeastern state.

Notably, IPFT leaders - late N C Debbarma and Mevar Kumar Jamatia - had gone to Delhi before the 2018 assembly elections and signed an agreement with the Centre.

Tripura's royal scion urged Tipra Motha workers to prepare for the polls and said he will also fight the elections to "defeat those who are opposing our demand".

The ruling BJP and the opposition Congress-CPI (M) alliance have been vying with each other to woo the Tipra Motha into an electoral understanding as the tribal party's votes will be crucial in determining who will rule the northeastern state after the next month's election.

In a direct contest with the ruling BJP-IPFT alliance, the regional party swept the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) elections held in April last year, winning 18 of the 28 seats over the 'Greater Tipraland' demand.

The CPI(M) and Congress, who had vowed to contest the upcoming election jointly to defeat the BJP, have not agreed to the idea of 'Greater Tipraland'.

Experts believe that the statehood demand will affect results in 20 assembly seats, where tribals hold considerable clout electorally.