BJP under pressure from Tipra Motha and IPFT for the upcoming Village Committee polls

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, November 5, 2024

Having reduced the party’s once-powerful tribal front organization ‘Janajati Morcha’ to virtual non-existence , the ruling BJP in Tripura is now all set to face the music in the run-up to the Village Committee polls. Since the year 2018 when the BJP captured power for the first time in the state the ‘Janajati Morcha’ had played a key role but keeping an eye on ad hockist gain the state leadership at the behest of the central party gradually reduced the ‘Jana Jati Morcha’ to virtual non-existence. This had first come to light before the ADC election of 2021 when , defying the ‘Jana Jati Morcha’s’ opinion, the state leadership had struck a deal with enfeebled IPFT and paid price, conceding the ADC to newly formed Tipra Motha. In the run-up to the last Loksabha elections also the BJP leadership, specially the central leadership, conceded ground to Pradyot’s machinations and allotted the East Tripura seat to a rank outsider, Pradyot’s sister Kriti Debi Singh, who is now neither visible nor voluble. Another major blunder the BJP led state government had made was in agreeing to the resettlement of the Reang refugees from Mizoram , in stead of driving them back to their home state.

Now Pradyot Kishore has started afresh his devious game by demanding that the resettlement villages of the Reang refugees who forced the displacement of many native Bengalis from their traditional habitats in Kanchanpur and Gandacherra by criminal activities be recognized as separate Village Committee areas. How the state BJP leadership, unable to read through the layers of Pradyot’s devious activities , will react to this is still not known. Moreover, Pradyot as part of his hackneyed jargon and characteristic machination has offered an olive branch to the IPFT in the ostensible interest of illusory ‘Thansa’. How things will shape up in the run-up to the Village Committee polls likely to be held early next year is still not clear but no one in the state BJP has said anything on this. Possibly the BJP controlled Centre which remote-controls every nook and corner of politics even in far flung areas will take a decision and impose it on state leadership.

But it is certain that Pradyot will keep on playing his devious games as a beneficiary of BJP centre’s politics of appeasement at the cost of people. There is as yet no talk of seat sharing for the 587 Village Committees and even if that happens the BJP will be required to share a number of seats to the IPFT, leaving themselves with far fewer seats that it can contest . The Tipra Motha which needed to be and still needs to be fought at every step may emerge as the major beneficiary because of the proven inability of BJP leadership at state and central level to play their cards with due diligence and prudence.