Elections in Tripura are not until next year, but clearly, the time is now for the BJP. For India’s largest and richest party, every state election resembles a war, no matter who the opponent. And when it is their ‘crown’ to defend, the stakes are much higher. BJP national president JP Nadda’s recent visit to Tripura, where BJP will seek to retain and consolidate their position, was, in some ways, the saffron party’s ‘official’ declaration of war. A democratic one, of course.
Nadda had several reasons to visit the state, but after the visit, it has become clear that the prime reason for his visit was to show the opposition that the BJP aims to end its dependence on the regional satraps, and create a dedicated vote bank in the hills. And there is a good reason for that.
BJP in Hills: At home, but never comfortable
It is not as if the BJP does not have a strong base in the Tripura hills. The party is the second-largest party in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) apart from MLAs from the region. But the BJP leaders believe that the IPFT benefited from the BJP’s popularity, as the BJP supporters also cast their vote for the joint candidate. While the 2018 BJP-IPFT alliance helped both parties, it became clear within a few years that the parties were heading towards a collision course. The IPFT had won eight seats in the 2018 elections on the back of pushing for a separate state for the indigenous people. However, that demand ran out of steam as Tipraha Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA) led by royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarman, a dedicated ex-Congressman envisioned the idea of ‘Greater Tipraland.’ In some ways, Debbarman’s demands are the IPFT’s demands, but much bigger in scope and much more alluring for a section of people who have felt marginalised for decades. This single demand, coupled with Debbarman’s charisma and ‘royal’ lineage, reversed the political landscape and TIPRA with the support of other smaller regional outfits emerged as the strongest political force. Only TIPRA has put up a decent fight against the BJP-IPFT combine since 2018, and in 2021 its victory in the TTAADC elections and the subsequent drubbing of the IPFT, which failed to win even a single seat, deeply upset the political balance in the state.
BJP-TIPRA to come together? Maybe, maybe not
In Indian electoral politics, this is often the most simple path to success: gain presence in a region, win local elections, and then ally with a larger party for state-level or national elections. Since TIPRA’s convincing win in the TTAADC elections, the political lanes of Tripura are rife with a BJP-TIPRA alliance. Some believe it is imminent, others see it as nothing more than ‘fake’ news. Given how the BJP has targeted the region and picked other indigenous leaders from the region like Patal Kanya Jamatia to strengthen its base, it seems that for now, the BJP is almost sure of going alone. BJP National Chief JP Nadda at TTAADC headquarters delivered the same message to all political adversaries.
But it is one thing to deliver a message, and another to see how well the message was received. Given the kind of publicity that the BJP Janajati Morcha carried out before the public meeting, the rally failed to draw much public attention. But the BJP attributed this to logistics rather than popularity. Former BJP Janajati Morcha state president and MP from East Tripura parliamentary constituency Rebati Tripura told EastMojo, “The BJP wants to expand its base in the tribal-dominated areas. The main purpose of the Janajati Sabha that Nadda addressed at Khumulwng was just a trailer, we have been given special impetus to improve our organisation and mobilise more and more people with our motto of overall development.”
On the low turnout in the rally, Tripura said, “It was the weather that should be blamed for the low turnout. People from faraway places reached the venue, but due to the scorching heat, they could not stay there for long. Apart from this, several vehicles got stuck in the traffic on the National highway soon after Nadda’s convoy passed the road. And most importantly owing to his previous engagements, Nadda Ji could not reach there in time. It was our mistake as the shed could not be thatched due to the hurry. Over 20,000 people reached Khumulwng to hear our national president but they could not sustain long due to the weather,” he explained.
Rebati Tripura also accused TIPRA motha of blocking roads in some places and attacking BJP supporters on their way to the public rally. “Due to the attacks in Jampuijala and Mungikami, many people could not show up for the rally,” Tripura added.
If BJP sources are to be believed, about 40 people were injured severely as buses and cars were allegedly attacked by TIPRA supporters. A vehicle also collided head-on with a car, inflicting serious injuries on several BJP supporters. Moreover, the Khumulwng market was also shut down on the day of the public rally.
However, TIPRA clarified that they did not call for a strike. TIPRA supporters were also seen holding placards in the rally venue with demands of Greater Tipraland scribbled on them. Reacting sharply to Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha’s stern warning to alleged TIPRA supporters for the violent attacks the BJP supporters en route to JP Nadda’s rally faced, TIPRA chairman Debbarman said, “Yes no one should be spared but that should include the helmet gang too.”
The “helmet gang” is a term often used for motorcycle-borne miscreants involved in attacks and intimidation of opposition party leaders and supporters. It is widely alleged that these groups are sponsored by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. They were even involved in pre-poll and post-poll attacks. “I have openly called for my party workers to restrain themselves from violence. Our party has installed banners to welcome JP Nadda at Khumulwng…CM Dr Manik Saha also said he would not allow any unruly elements in his party as soon as he took over the charge but unfortunately, it turned out to be wrong. Violent face-offs and attacks on opposition party workers continued,” he added.
When asked about BJP’s aggressive expansion activities in the hilly areas, Debbarman said, “Every party has equal rights to do politics and it is their prerogative to choose the venue for the rallies and whom they are targeting to reach out. I am not the person to make any statement on the internal matters of the BJP. If the total turnout was lower than what has been expected is a matter of introspection for the BJP.”
In the BJP-TIPRA fight, others left to fight for scraps
With the BJP and TIPRA dominating the political sphere of Tripura, the other parties: the CPI(M), Congress and even IPFT, have been left with little except to criticise the BJP. The Left parties ruled the TTAADC areas for 15 years but have been virtually wiped out from the tribal areas. Its tribal wing Tripura Upajati Ganamukti Parishad failed to win even one seat in the last ADC elections. Although the Left leaders refused to make any comments on the issue formally, one of the senior leaders requesting anonymity said, “TIPRA’s call of Greater Tipraland not only eroded the base of IPFT but decimated the Left strongholds as well. The damage that Left has suffered in the ADC areas has weakened its strength substantially. Even the situation is worse than the 2018 assembly performance now.”
Senior Congress leader and MLA Sudip Roy Barman, on the other hand, claimed that BJP might have started their journey but they are set to end in a whimper. “After a poor show in Khumulwng, it could be very well understood that BJP in Tripura has been rejected by all. The indigenous people, OBCs, the SCs, no other section of the society are with them,” said Barman.
Then, there is the IPFT, which is still part of the ruling alliance. When asked about their strength, IPFT General Secretary (Organisation) Aghore Debbarma said, “See, our party is still strong enough. On August 28, we met BJP National President JP Nadda and reiterated our demand for separate statehood with the sixth schedule areas. He did not say that BJP has rejected our demand. He said the IPFT and the BJP have to work together for the overall development of the state. If BJP considers our demands, we shall carry forward our alliance with them in the next elections as well.”
When asked about the political setbacks it has faced in the ADC elections, he said, “Unlike TIPRA that had stolen the demand of Tipraland and modified it into Greater Tipraland to mislead people, we have continued our protests for separate statehood. We have repeatedly said that to protect the tribes from getting extinct, a separate state is the only solution. Now Greater Tipraland is possible if there is a Tipraland. Without Tipraland, demand for Greater Tipraland makes no sense. On August 23, we sent two memorandums to the offices of the PM and the Home Minister. We have staged a sit-in demonstration at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar demanding Tipraland. We have never compromised with our core ideology but people were misguided.”
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