BY- JOURNALIST BANABRATA DATTA
Tripura, India
A day after the Election Commission announced the schedule of the Assembly polls in three North Eastern states – Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland, hectic parleys have started in New Delhi and in Agartala between various parties.
As far as Polls in Tripura is concerned, Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA) – Tipra Motha – supremo Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barman held “inconclusive” meetings with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in the national capital.
Deb Barman reportedly reiterated his stand that his party would ally with those parties or parties who would give in writing assurance to their ‘Greater Tipraland State’ demand. The TIPRA Motha, since 2021, has been demanding the elevation of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) areas by granting of ‘Greater Tipraland State’ under Article 2 and 3 of the Constitution.
Meantime, Congress and the CPI-M held a second round of meetings in Agartala over their seat adjustments for the February 16 Assembly elections. Congress Tripura state president Birajit Sinha, CPI-M state Secretary and former MP Jitendra Chowdhury, Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman, former MLA Asish Kumar Kumar Saha, Left Front convenor Narayan Kar and a few other leaders were present in the one and a half hours-long meeting.
After the meeting, the Congress and the CPI-M leaders under the banner of “Secular Democratic Forces” apprised the media about the pre-poll violence in Tripura.
Barman said that people have serious apprehension about whether they would be able to cast votes or not in the forthcoming Assembly polls. “Since the BJP government came to power in Tripura in 2018, people could not cast their vote in different elections. We (Congress and CPI-M) came together for restoring law and order situation and democracy,” he told the Media Chief Editor B. Datta.
In another development in Tripura, responding to the influential tribal-based party TIPRA’s appeal, the ruling BJP’s ally, the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) agreed to hold discussions on contesting the February 16 Assembly election together for the all-round development and protection of the tribals.
Senior TIPRA leader and Deputy Chief Executive Member of the TTAADC Animesh Debbarma told FTFMI on Thursday night a formal meeting with the IPFT leaders would be held to take the next course of action after TIPRA chief Deb Barman returned to Agartala.
