Tribal body polls in Tripura: Peace and harmony at stake with calls being made for separate state for tribals

The general polls for the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) this year are quite different from the past elections. Unlike the past, this time the elections are multi-corner contests with all the major parties of the state jumping into the fray to try their luck in the crucial tribal body elections.

The elections for the 30-member tribal council — 2 are nominated by the governor of the state — have always played a significant role to determine the direction of the state’s politics. The tribals — 31 per cent of the state’s population — dominate the areas by accounting for around 83 per cent of the TTAADC’s population. Notably, 20 seats of the state’s assembly are reserved for the tribals. Also, two-thirds of the state’s area comes under TTAADC.

This explains the importance of tribal body polls — and this election becomes more crucial given the twists and turns occurring in state politics in recent times before the 2023 state assembly polls. More importantly, this election is taking place when there have been attempts to disrupt the hard achieved peace and harmony through divisive slogans in the tribal belt. The state has seen horrific ethnic riots and decades of insurgency resulting in bloodshed.

The state in the past witnessed demands for an “independent Tripura” raised by tribal insurgent groups — who were involved in the killings of hundreds of non-tribals in the state. All these violent things are now a thing of the past, as the people, including tribals and non-tribals, sided with the efforts made by the government to restore normalcy. And no doubt, the previous CPI(M)-led Left Front government under the leadership of the then Chief Minister Manik Sarkar deserves credit for its role to involve the common people to restore peace in the state.

However, in recent times, there has been a demand for a separate Tipraland — a separate state for the tribals. This demand is different from the earlier demands raised by tribal militant groups. The present demand is raised through the democratic forum. Despite this, the demand has been a divisive one, as it tries to revive the memories of the bitter past. More importantly, this demand for a separate state for tribals is practically impossible as both tribals and non-tribals are found in almost every region of the state.

Nevertheless, some tribal political parties have been using this slogan to get votes by playing with the emotions of the tribals. Already, Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) — once a fringe player and now an alliance partner in the Biplab Deb-led BJP government — led by NC Debbarma and re-activated in 2009 became a major player in the tribal belt by riding on the slogan of Tipraland. Given the fact that slogans like Tipraland can help in parties tasting power, royal scion Pradyot Deb Barman has jumped into the fray by forming a regional party called The Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA) with his demand of Greater Tipraland — which is not restricted to tribals living under TTAADC but also seeks to include tribals spread across Assam, Mizoram and even Bangladesh.

Pradyot’s demand for Greater Tipraland is as unrealistic as the IPFT’s Tipraland demand, although the royal scion says that TIPRA’s definition of Tripuri includes both tribals and non-tribals living in the state. Having said that, one can’t deny the danger of such unrealistic emotional demands disturbing the peace and harmony existing between tribals and non-tribals — an achievement of the previous Left Front government.

Pradyot’s demand is just an extension of IPFT's demand. IPFT won decisively in the tribal belt — once a citadel of CPI(M) — in 2018 assembly polls by playing into the emotions of the tribals through the card of Tipraland. But after assuming power by being a junior partner of the ruling BJP, IPFT has been unable to deliver its promise.

The ruling BJP and the two major opposition parties — CPI(M) and Congress — have always been opposed to Tipraland demand, which is very unpopular among the majority Bengali community. The pro-Tipraland voters are already unhappy with IPFT for its failure to deliver their desired Tipraland — and it is this section that Pradyot is eager to attract towards his new regional party.

Notably, Pradyot could have avoided raising the Greater Tipraland demand to just secure votes, as he, being a royal scion, has already been a popular face in the tribal belt.

Pradyot’s party is fighting on 23 seats while its alliance partner — Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) — one of the state’s oldest existing tribal parties — is fighting on 4 seats. Already, Tipraland State Party (TSP) has joined Pradyot’s TIPRA.

Notably, INPT in the past had opposed IPFT’s Tipraland demand. On the other hand, IPFT is contesting on 17 seats while its ally BJP has put candidates on 14 seats. Both the partners are having friendly fights in 3 seats.

The Left Front — which has been winning the TTAADC elections continuously since 2005 — is contesting all 28 seats with 25 for the major partner CPI(M) and one seat each for CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc. The Congress is the only major party contesting all seats. Even Nitish Kumar’s party JD(U) is trying its luck in this election.

It is a healthy sign for Tripura’s democracy, which already has been under attack, that many parties are contesting the TTAADC elections where peace and harmony of the state are at stake with divisive and unrealistic demands centering around Tipraland gaining support from a section of leaders and parties — and it remains to be seen how the voters would react while exercising their rights on April 6.

(IPA Service)

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