How Pradoyt Debbarma's Tipra Motha Emerged As A Key Player In Tripura Politics

The Tipra Motha on Thursday emerged as the second-largest party after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Tripura assembly election results.

As per the latest trends, the BJP is set to form government with 31 MLAs. Thirty candidates of BJP have won polls and one candidate of ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) won to deliver the saffron party a second consecutive tenure in the state. 

Though the BJP has secured majority on its own and can make further gains as it's leading in two more seats, the Tipra Motha was once expected to be a likely kingmaker in Tripura. Even now, it's the second-largest party in with 13 seats ahead of Congress and the CPI (M) — though the CPI (M) and Congress are collectively ahead by one seat as CPI (M) has won 11 seats and Congress three. 

How Tipra Motha became leading tribal party

The Tipra Motha Party is floated and led by Pradoyt Kishore Manikya Debbarma, scion of the erstwhile Tripura royal family. As the second-largest party, Tipra Motha is set to play a leading role in Tripura. 

The Tipra Motha fought the elections on the tribal plank and appears to have taken over the BJP-ally IPFT's tribal support. Initial trends also indicated that Tipra Motha was set to substantially eat into the BJP's vote share in the state's tribal belts. 

In the 2018 elections, the BJP had won 10 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes while its ally IPFT won eight. The CPI(M) had won two seats. This time, Tipra Motha has replaced the IPFT as the most prominent tribal party as it has apparently won over the support of a large section of tribal voters with Debbarma's promise of a 'Greater Tipraland'.  

The BJP's alliance with the IPFT was credited as the major factor behind toppling the Left Front government in the 2018 elections.  

With the IPFT failing to deliver on its promise of 'Tipraland', a populist demand raised ahead of the 2018 elections, Debbarma started penetrating tribal belts systematically, encashing his royal legacy.

Gradually, Debbarma managed to portray himself as the savour of the indigenous people, who started calling him 'bubagra (king)', and reducing the IPFT into a spent force in the tribal-dominated areas. His plan worked a charm as his newly floated party reduced the IPFT to zero in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) elections just three months after its formation in April 2022. 

Tipra Motha more of a movement than party: Debbarma

Pradoyt Kishore Manikya Debbarma told Outlookt that Tipra Motha is more of a movement than just a political party. 

In 2019, Debbarma resigned as the Tripura Congress President to form the extra-political Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA). In February 2021, it was transformed into a political outfit—the TIPRA Motha party.

Debbarma earlier told Outlook, "TIPRA is still more of a movement than a political party. However, we also realised that without contesting elections and defeating parties that did not want to listen to us, we would not gain anything. So, we decided to contest the election. We won because we are sincere and people saw that. We don’t want to indulge in the same kind of politics that people have seen for the past 70 years."

Even though Tipra Motha was seen as a kingmaker, Debbarma earlier said the party would sit in the Oppoition.

"Then we will sit in the opposition. We are not hungry for power. I don’t want to be the chief minister. I am not even contesting the election. I cannot be purchased with money. We cannot be intimidated. There was a lot of pressure on me from national parties to get into a pre-poll alliance but I have held my head high through all these negotiations and have turned down every offer when they refused to give me something in writing. Verbal assurances hold no meaning. I need something to show my people," said Debbarma on the question of Tipra Motha's support being required post-elections.

Tipra Motha has potential to change indigenous politics: Expert

Dr Biswaranjan Tripura of Tata Institute of Social Sciences said the Tipra Motha has the potential to change the shape of indigenous people's politics in Tripura. 

Tripura noted that Tipra Motha "drastically changed the indigenous politics in the state by first forming the government in the TTAADC in 2021, being the single largest regional political party in the state".

Tipra Motha has emerged as the leading party of Tripura's tribal people, who have repeatedly seen parties raising their issues and failing to act on them after elections. 

Tripura notes that the Tipra Motha has the potential to change the future of state politics.

"The TIPRA Motha has the potential to shape the current indigenous politics in Tripura, provided it remains fully-committed to its core ideology, continue to struggle politically for the rights of the indigenous people of Tripura, and honestly pursue a permanent constitutional solution for its constituents," noted Tripura in an article for Outlook.

(With PTI inputs)