Tipra Motha party supremo Pradyot Debbarma on Wednesday said Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in the presence of BJP president J P Nadda, had started the process for a “constitutional solution for the indigenous people of Tripura”.
After a meeting with senior BJP leaders, including Shah, Nadda, and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, and state Chief Minister Manik Saha in Agartala, in a Facebook post, Debbarma wrote: “The Home Minister has started the process for a constitutional solution for the indigenous people of Tripura. An interlocutor for this process will be appointed and this will be within a specific timeframe.” Debbarma thanked the union home minister for “understanding the genuine problems” of tribals in the state.
Debbarma also laid to rest speculation about his party joining the BJP
Northeast coordinator Sambit Patra told mediapersons, “We have had a threadbare discussion with TIPRA Motha chief Pradyot Kishore ji on issues related to tribal welfare, about how respect and dignity of tribals can be established. We have decided to start a series of discussions on these soon and the solution will be drawn out based on our slogan of ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas’.”
According to Patra, no discussions were held on political alliance or allocation of cabinet berths to Tipra Motha and the discussion was limited to ‘tribal welfare’
“Shah requested CM Saha to hold discussions with ruling ally IPFT, along with Tipra Motha and social organisations, to find amicable solutions to the problems,” Patra added.
Tipra Motha, floated by Debbarma, a descendant of the former ruling family of Tripura, won 13 of the 42 seats in the recent polls to the 60-member Tripura assembly, while the BJP-IPFT alliance won 33 seats. Tipra Mothais the second-largest party in Tripura now.
However, the BJP is in a slim majority in Tripura, just two more than the half-way mark of 30. Its ally IPFT’s single MLA takes that tally to 33, but leaves the party vulnerable still.