Tripura BJP-Tipra Motha alliance faces fresh strain after VC polls

Agartala: The firing on a Tipra Motha candidate during the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) Village Committee elections, followed by protests, clashes involving security personnel and competing allegations over the conduct of polling, has brought a fresh strain to the BJP-Tipra Motha alliance in the state.

The two parties had contested the Village Committee elections as alliance partners, with the BJP, Tipra Motha and IPFT coordinating their election strategy in the run-up to the September 28 polling. The alliance had also secured a large number of Village Committee seats uncontested during the nomination and withdrawal process.

However, the shooting of Tipra Motha candidate Khachindra Reang at Warengbari in the Gamaria area of Gomati district on polling day has brought the two parties into a fresh political confrontation at the local level.

Reang sustained a bullet injury during a clash involving rival political groups, while two other persons, identified as Chitrajoy Reang and Udayram Reang in the earlier account, were also injured. Reang was initially taken to Gomati District Hospital and later referred to GB Pant Hospital in Agartala for advanced treatment.

Tipra Motha supporters alleged that the attackers were linked to rival BJP workers, but senior party leader and TTAADC Executive Member CK Jamatia said the identity of the perpetrators had not been established and that the allegation against the BJP was an assumption. The police were expected to establish the facts through investigation.

The incident subsequently triggered a chain of developments that extended beyond the polling station. Tension escalated in Gamaria after groups gathered in protest, while Superintendent of Police, Gomati, Anirban Das, was injured and the official vehicle of Udaipur SDPO Debanjali Roy was vandalised during clashes.

Security forces, including police, CRPF and Tripura State Rifles personnel, were deployed in the area as the administration attempted to prevent further escalation.

The situation remained tense on Tuesday, when Tipra Motha workers blocked the Udaipur-Amarpur road, seeking action against those responsible for the firing.

The blockade, which began around 9.45 am, was later withdrawn after District Magistrate Rinku Lather, Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Ipper Manchak and other senior officials held discussions with party leaders.

Senior Tipra Motha leaders led by MLA Ranjit Debbarma questioned the police over the alleged delay in arresting the accused. A heated exchange took place between the leaders and police officials, followed by a brief scuffle, according to accounts provided by the party and administration.

Police subsequently informed the leaders that two persons had been detained for questioning in connection with the firing.

Debbarma said the party had earlier given police 48 hours to arrest the accused and that the deadline was nearing when the blockade was resumed. He said Tipra Motha had now given police another 72 hours to arrest the remaining accused, failing which the party would resume protests across the state.

IG Manchak said two cases had been registered and that the investigation was proceeding.

“Two cases have been registered and investigation is being carried out in both the cases. The investigation shall proceed in its due course,” he said.

Udaipur SDPO Debanjali Roy said two persons had been detained for interrogation and that the situation was under control.

The administration has also imposed prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita to prevent any further untoward incident. Administrative sources said a crowd, including Tipra Motha MLAs and MDCs, gathered at the protest site despite the prohibitory orders.

The developments have acquired added political significance because of the nature of the BJP-Tipra Motha relationship during the Village Committee elections.

The two parties had gone into the polls as alliance partners and had coordinated their campaign and organisational preparations.

Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha had earlier said the BJP, Tipra Motha and IPFT had formed an alliance for the Village Committee elections and were working together, although candidates from alliance parties were contesting against one another in some constituencies.

The alliance arrangement also produced substantial uncontested gains. According to the State Election Commission, 1,644 candidates were elected unopposed after the nomination and withdrawal process, leaving polling for the remaining seats.

Of those elected unopposed, 1,561 were from Tipra Motha and 81 from the BJP, according to figures reported by the commission.

The Gamaria episode has nevertheless exposed the difficulty of maintaining political coordination on the ground when alliance partners are also competing for influence in individual Village Committee areas.

The BJP has rejected any suggestion that the firing itself establishes the involvement of its workers.

BJP Tripura Pradesh president and MLA Abhishek Debroy visited the injured Tipra Motha workers at GB Hospital on Tuesday and said the incident was extremely unfortunate. He said he had asked the police to investigate and that the facts would become clear through the probe.

Debroy also described the incident as a “deep conspiracy”, while saying that the identity of those responsible was a matter for investigation.

At the same time, the BJP has raised a separate set of allegations concerning the conduct of polling at the Warengbari S.B. School polling station.

In a written representation to the State Election Commission, the BJP alleged that Tipra Motha supporters had captured the polling station and obstructed voters from entering it.

The party sought a re-poll, arguing that the allegations raised questions about the fairness of the polling process. The allegations remain claims made by the BJP and were not established merely by the party’s representation.

The State Election Commission, meanwhile, has ordered re-polling in three Village Committee seats on October 3. The re-poll covers seats 3 and 4 of Gamaria Village Committee under Matabari RD Block and seat 4 of Paharpur Village Committee under Amarpur RD Block.

State Election Commissioner P K Chakravarti said re-polling in Gamaria was ordered after reports indicated booth capturing and tampering with ballot boxes and ballot papers. In Paharpur, he said, the decision followed a discrepancy in symbol allotment and printing-related issues.

The commission said the September 28 elections recorded an overall turnout of 81.21 per cent across 587 Village Committees. Polling was held in 432 Village Committees across 44 RD blocks, covering 1,768 constituencies and 2,956 seats, with 8,176 candidates in the fray.

The commission also said it had received eight complaints from political parties, mostly concerning alleged obstruction of polling agents and preventing them from participating in the electoral process. Reports were sought from observers and returning officers, with some complaints disposed of while others remained under inquiry.

The commission had separately received a representation from Tipra Motha regarding the firing and injuries involving its candidate and two others at Warengbari. The matter was taken up with the police authorities and the Home Department, according to Chakravarti.

Taken together, the sequence of events has created a fresh stand-off between the two alliance partners in an election in which they had otherwise presented a coordinated front.

The immediate dispute centres on the firing, the demand for arrests and the competing claims over what happened at the polling station. But the subsequent road blockade, confrontation with police, the BJP’s demand for a re-poll and the Election Commission’s decision to order fresh polling in two Gamaria seats have widened the political implications of the incident.

For Tipra Motha, the issue has become one of seeking action against those it holds responsible for the attack on its candidate and supporters. For the BJP, the focus has also shifted to allegations of irregularities at the same polling area and its demand for a re-poll.

The police investigation and the Election Commission’s examination of the polling-related allegations will therefore be central to determining what happened at Gamaria. Until those processes establish the facts, the rival political allegations remain contested.

The developments indicate that the BJP-Tipra Motha alliance, despite contesting the Village Committee elections jointly and coordinating at the organisational level, is facing another stand-off on the ground following the firing incident.

The manner in which the police investigation, the October 3 re-poll and the competing allegations are handled is likely to determine whether the immediate confrontation remains confined to Gamaria or develops into a wider political dispute between the alliance partners.

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