The CPM and the Congress have formally set the ball rolling for a pre-poll alliance for the upcoming Assembly elections in Tripura.
AICC secretary Szarita Laitphlang, in charge of Tripura and Nagaland, told The Telegraph that AICC Tripura minder Ajoy Kumar and CPM state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury were holding the “first formal one-on-one talks” on Friday.
“Our state alliance committee of PCC president Birajit Sinha and senior leaders Sudip Roy Barman and Ashish Kumar Saha will then take the talks forward. We are hopeful of a favourable outcome in the next few days,” she added.
Ajoy Kumar later confirmed that the talks had begun. “We are in talks with the CPM to fight the ensuing polls in alliance, to fight together against fascist forces. We are also trying to get other inclusive forces on board.”
CPM leader Chaudhury texted in reply to a question from this newspaper: “Let us conclude our process.... Media shall be informed in time, whatever the outcome.”
If the alliance materialises, it will be the first tie-up between the arch-rivals in Tripura, now governed by a BJP-Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) partnership that won 44 of the 60 Assembly seats in 2018 and ousted the Left.
A source said the talks were being held to sort out “minor differences” over seat shares. “Barring a last-minute hiccup, an alliance is very much on the cards,” he added.
Friday also saw the Tipra Motha chief, Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma, reaching out to the IPFT. He handed to IPFT general secretary Aghore Debbarma an official letter “regarding the unification of Tipra with IPFT for the larger interest of the Tiprasa people”.
The IPFT, the coalition partner of the BJP, has been passing through testing times with the defection by three of its eight MLAs to the Tipra Motha, and the death of its president and MLA, Narendra Chandra Debbarma, on January 1.
The Tipra Motha, a regional party, has made rapid strides since its launch in 2021, winning a majority in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council polls last year. It is seen as a key factor in the state’s tribal areas, which account for 20 of the 60 Assembly seats.
The TIPRA Motha chief’s letter said that “fundamentally”, there was not much difference between the IPFT’s Tipraland state demand and the Motha’s demand for a Greater Tipraland state.
“Our demand is not different but it’s the same, which seeks a permanent constitutional solution for the indigenous people of the state. And we cannot have a consideration of any other issues sacrificing the Tiprasas’ existence. Let the Tiprasas survive and exist first under the protection of the ‘Tipraland’ State or ‘Greater Tipraland’ State,” the letter said.
IPFT spokesperson Amit Debbarma said the letter was yet to reach the party leadership. “We all are busy with our late president’s shraddha today. We will be meeting after a few days to discuss the letter. It is not the first time that Pradyotji has called for unification. But there are issues such as our existing alliance with the BJP or what entails Greater Tipraland.”
