"I'm Ready To...": Tripura Royal Reaches Out To BJP Ally Ahead Of Polls

Reaching out to BJP ally IPFT, Tipra Motha chairman Pradyot Debbarma said his party was ready to fight the assembly elections on "one symbol".

He said it was the right time to get united, and that is what the people want.

"NC Debbarma (IPFT president) is no longer with us. Our demand is the same... What is in a name? You will get nothing. Come forward, let's raise our voice together for 'thansa' (unity). I am ready to contest on one symbol," Mr Debbarma said in a Facebook live on Saturday.

"It is the right time to be united and the poor people want unity. If leaders break the hearts of people, god will not pardon us," he added.

The call for "unity" comes days after the death of NC Debbarma, who passed away on January 1.

Reacting to the statement, IPFT spokesperson Amit Debbarma said, "The party's leadership is considering the pros and cons of the approach. We will let the people know our decision at the earliest." 

Last year, Tipra Motha reached out to the IPFT with another such proposal but NC Debbarma rejected it.

The Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), a constituent of the BJP-led government in the state, has four MLAs in the assembly at present. It lost three of its MLAs last year -- Dhananjoy Tripura, Brishaketu Debbarma and Mevar Kumar Jamatia. The resignations of Dhananjoy Tripura and Mevar Kumar Jamatia were accepted by the speaker but Brishaketu was disqualified on the account of "procedural fault".

Mr Jamatia was the general secretary of the party. Speculations are rife that they may join the Tipra Motha before the assembly elections, due this year.

Making it clear that he will contest the assembly election, Mr Debbarma said he was fighting for protecting the rights of the people.

Mr Debbarma, who is the scion of the erstwhile royal family of Tripura, formed Tipra Motha in February 2021, after quitting as the state Congress president in 2019.

Within months of its formation, Tipra Motha won the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) elections, trouncing the BJP and IPFT. The council administers two-third geographical area of the state.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)