Agartala: With elections to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) due in the next couple of months, political campaigning in the state’s tribal belt has intensified sharply.
Unlike Tripura’s general constituencies, electoral contests in the TTAADC are largely bipolar, with Tipra Motha and the BJP locked in a fierce battle. Ironically, the two rivals in the council are allies in other electoral formats.
Politics in the Sixth Schedule body has its own distinct dynamics. Since the Left was routed from power in the TTAADC, no other mainstream party has been able to firmly establish itself in the council.
In 2021, Tipra Motha delivered a shock defeat to both the BJP and the Left, less than a year after it emerged from its origins as a social organisation. That loss remains the only major electoral setback suffered by the BJP-led coalition in Tripura since 2018.
Sources within the ruling alliance suggest that neither party is inclined towards a political understanding for the upcoming ADC elections.
Tipra Motha has adopted a no-holds-barred approach, repeatedly projecting the TTAADC as its strongest bastion and asserting its role as the primary champion of tribal aspirations.
The BJP, meanwhile, has leaned on its familiar development-centric narrative, leaving no stone unturned to expand its outreach in ADC areas.
Although the BJP currently has around nine MDCs in the council, political observers believe Tipra Motha continues to enjoy greater organisational strength and popular clout.
As the political temperature rises, the “friendly fight” has exposed visible cracks in the ruling coalition. With several weeks still to go before the polls, the BJP has already declared that it is aiming for a clean sweep in the TTAADC.
Tipra Motha responded sharply, stating that if the BJP is pursuing such an objective, it would have no option but to fight independently.
Amid the escalating rhetoric, the long-simmering debate over the script for Kokborok has resurfaced—this time placing the ruling allies on opposite sides of a direct confrontation. In the past, the BJP largely avoided taking a firm position on the issue, often maintaining a studied silence when protests erupted demanding the adoption of Roman script for Kokborok.
To strike a balance, the BJP—aware of its higher stakes in government—generally opted for a diplomatic approach, maintaining the status quo. The strategy was to neither resolve the issue conclusively nor prevent students from writing examinations in the script of their choice.
This time, however, the approach has changed. It was the BJP, and Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha himself, who reignited the debate by openly stating that Kokborok speakers should adopt an indigenous script if Devanagari was not suitable for the language.
On Tuesday, Dr Saha went a step further, alleging that the demand for Roman script was “manufactured and sponsored by a foreign institution.” “If the Chakmas can develop a script of their own, who is preventing Kokborok speakers from doing the same?” he asked.
Highlighting what he described as the limitations of Roman script, the Chief Minister said, “Roman script is a foreign script. Most importantly, if an Indian script is not selected, the language will never receive constitutional recognition under the Eighth Schedule.”
Dr Saha also referred to previous language commissions constituted to resolve the issue. He noted that while the Shyama Charan Tripura-led commission had favoured Roman script, subsequent panels under Kumud Kundu Chowdhury and Pabitra Sarkar failed to arrive at a definitive recommendation. “The Kumud Kundu Chowdhury panel expired before submitting its suggestions, and the Pabitra Sarkar committee did not endorse any specific script,” he said.
Tipra Motha founder Pradyot Kishore Debbarman reacted sharply, equating the politicisation of the Kokborok script issue with an assault on the sentiments of the people.
Responding to the Chief Minister’s remarks, Debbarman said, “The script of the Kokborok language will be decided by Kokborok speakers. The earlier language commissions had already indicated what would be ideal for our language. We do not need advice from others.”
Countering the argument about constitutional recognition, he added, “I heard the respected Chief Minister say that Roman script would prevent Kokborok from being included in the Eighth Schedule. We accept that. Then give our language a place in the Seventh Schedule. In BJP-ruled Assam, Karbi and Dimasa are written in Roman script. What is stopping the BJP from following the same approach here?”
In an earlier press briefing, Debbarman had announced that schools administered by the TTAADC would begin teaching Kokborok exclusively in Roman script from the next academic session. “Kokborok is already being taught in Roman script from nursery to Class II in 1,633 ADC schools. From 2026, we will extend Roman script instruction to Classes III to V,” he said.
In contrast, Kokborok textbooks and question papers in Tripura government-run schools continue to be printed in the Bengali script. However, following protests, the state government has allowed students to write their answers in Roman script if they have studied Kokborok in that medium since childhood.
As the TTAADC elections draw closer, the revival of the Kokborok script debate has not only sharpened electoral rhetoric but also laid bare deeper ideological and cultural differences within Tripura’s ruling alliance.
Also Read: Ban on Awami League signals a dangerous democratic rupture in Bangladesh
You just read a story that took days to report. Help us keep our reporters on the ground in the Northeast.
Ad-free reading, support and keep important stories alive
Support once (any amount)
Scan to pay via UPI