Tripura Cong will alliance to TIPRA, but not accept state demand

Agartala: The opposition Congress in Tripura on Monday said it is open to the idea of ​​an alliance with Tipra Motha for the upcoming assembly polls.

The party, however, made it clear that under no circumstances would it support the regional body’s demand for a ‘Greater Tipraland’.
“We have no objection to an electoral alliance with Tipra Motha, but we cannot accept its demand for a separate state. We agree that the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) should be further autonomous should be given,” Tripura Pradesh Congress president, Brajit Sinha told PTI.

He pointed out that the Tribal Council was created under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, when Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister of the country.
Tipra Motha was created by Pradyot Deb Barma, a scion of the former royal family, in February 2021, two years after he stepped down as Congress president.

Deb Burma has said on several occasions that Tipra Motha would ally with any party that gave written assurance that it would accept the party’s core demand.

Sinha, on his part, claimed, “I don’t think any political party will agree to the demand for a separate state.”
He noted that the BJP, which had formed an alliance with the IPFT before the last assembly elections, had also not agreed to its ally’s demand for a separate state.
Talking about the election preparations, he said, “Congress wants all anti-BJP forces to unite and defeat the saffron camp.”

Last month, CPI(M)’s Tripura state secretary Jitendra Chowdhury, state Congress president Brajit Sinha and leaders of the CPI, RSP, Forward Bloc and CPI-ML wrote to the Election Commission. In the said letter, the parties had emphasized. The election body should take active steps to conduct elections in a free and fair manner.