The demand for a Greater Tipraland in Tripura is likely to shape the election verdict

The TIPRA Motha party has so far rejected all offers for an alliance, be it the BJP or the CPI(M)-Congress combine

New Delhi, Jan 27: With the Tripura elections round the corner, the demand for a Greater Tipraland is back in the narrative.

This debate has garnered significant traction for the TIPRA Motha party, which is led by the scion of Tripura's royal family, Pradyot Manikya Debbaram. The party has promised Tripura's indigenous communities an ethnic homeland.

Last week the BJP had delegated Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma to hold talks with Pradyot. On Wednesday a TIPRA Motha delegation began talks with Union Home Minister, Amit Shah. The party has maintained that it would contest the elections on its and would not enter into any alliance unless their demand for a separate state is met.

The Tripura Numbers:

There are 60 constituencies in the poll bound Tripura. Nearly 20 seats are reserved for the Schedule Tribes. In the 2018 elections, eight of these reserved seats were bagged by the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura, while the BJP bagged 10 and the CPI(M), 2.

In the 2018 elections, the BJP won 36 seats with a vote share of 43.5 per cent which was followed by the CPI(M) bagging 16 seats with a vote share of 42.2 per cent. The IPFT on the other hand won eight seats with a vote share of 7.5 per cent.

The demand for Greater Tipraland:

The Greater Tiaraland means carving out a separate state out of Tripura, which is India's smallest state in terms of area. The new state will be a homeland for the indigenous communities of the region. It is alleged that these communities have been reduced to a minority in terms of numbers due to the influx of Bengalis who were displaced from East Bengal during the partition.

More Bengali migrants come into Tripura during the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971.

The language census of 2011 says that Bengali was the mother tongue of 24.14 lakh people in Tripura. This is around two-thirds of the 36.74 lakh people. Out of this 8.87 lakh speak Kokborok, a language of the Tibet-Burman family, which is also the mother tongue of the largest tribal group.

Pradyot has said that the formation of a separate state will help in protecting the rights and culture of the tribals. He has also promised reforms for tribals while stating that a new state should be carved out under Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution of India.

Demand first raised by IPFT:

It was the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) which was formed in 2000 that first raised the demand for a separate state. In 2002 the IPFT merged with the Tripura Upajati Juba Samiti (TUJS). This led to the formation of the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra (INPT) headed by Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhwal, a former separatist leader.

The IPFT was however revived in 2009 under the leadership of N C Debbarma, who later went on to become minister in the BJP-IPFT coalition government. Debbarma passed away on January 1 20222.

With his death the influence of the IPFT waned and this led to the rise of the TIPRA Motha party, which has brought back the demand for a separate state.The IPFT is now in talks with the TIPRA Motha for a merger. Since 2021, one BJP MLA and three from IPFT joined the TIPRA Motha.

The effect on the elections:

This time the elections look to be a three-corner fight. This would be the case if the TIPRA Motha does not stitch up an alliance either with the BJP of CPI(M)-Coongress alliance.

With the IPFT almost diminished and the, the rise of the IPFT which has rejected all alliance offers would be a party to watch out for.