In case of deadlock after Tripura elections, we may stake claim for govt formation, says Tipra Motha President

In case of a deadlock with no alliance or party can gain a majority in the upcoming three-cornered elections to the Tripura assembly, the Tipra Motha may stake claim to form a government, said the president Bijoy Kumar Hragkhawl. 

The regional party, which has a majority following in the state's tribal areas, is also willing to lend its support to any party or to form an alliance (whether the BJP or the Congress-Left coalition) that forms a government, provided it agrees on paper and the House floor to Tipra Motha's demand for the creation of a separate tribal state.

Additionally, Hrangkhwl, a former militant chieftain, said his party held a meeting in Guwahati to discuss the possibility of a pre-election alliance, where they met the Assam chief minister and two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders from Delhi, but they did not reach a conclusion. 

While talking to PTI, Hrangkhawl said, "In a post-poll scenario, we may be the single-largest party in the state; we are willing to support from outside (any party that can form a government), but you have to agree on paper and the floor of the House that a new state will be formed." "We will not proceed if they (the other parties) disagree," he continued. 

The veteran tribal leader, a founder of the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra, after signing the Tripura peace accord with then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, which was merged with Tipra Motha two years ago, also said that the strategy had been discussed with his party's chairman and former royal family scion Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma.

He said that if there is a constitutional deadlock and no party can form a government, we will approach the Governor to form a government, knowing that we may not be able to run it because they (other parties) will band together against us.

Tripura Assembly elections to the 60-member, including 20 tribal seats, are slated to be held on Wednesday, February 16. 

Following the analysts, a three-way election, with the Left-Congress alliance re-emerging in the state and newcomer Tipra Motha gaining widespread support in tribal areas.

In the 2018 election, the BJP swept to power with 36 seats, half of which came from tribal areas. With Tipra Motha's rise, many of the 20 tribal seats are expected to change hands. While in the plains, where most people are not tribal, anti-incumbency and law and order issues may hurt the ruling party's chances.

In 2018, the BJP received 43.59 per cent of the vote, compared to 42.22 per cent for the CPI(M) and 2 per cent for the Congress, with the majority of the BJP's gain coming at the expense of the Congress.

Hrangkhawl said that attempts to form a pre-election alliance had failed. We met in Guwahati after the Assam Chief Minister invited us (Himanta Biswa Sarma). Two more BJP leaders arrived from Delhi, but we declined as we couldn't agree (to a separate Tipraland).

Though the Motha leaders have left the Greater Tipraland concept ambiguous by making demands on tribal areas in neighbouring states and even Bangladesh, the actual borders may coincide with those of the existing Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council.

The former rebel leader also said he could not rule out horse trading attempts. Some people may change their minds about the horse-buying system. We can't rule anything out, he said. However, he added, "We don't expect that from our group. Some of their friends (MLAs) will drag them back."

(With inputs from PTI)

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• Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl
• Tipra Motha
• Tripura
• Tripura Election 2023
• Tripura Polls 2023
• Tripura polls