"More Crowds Than PM's Rally": Ex Tripura Royal's Big Claim On State Polls

Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma, who belongs to the former Tripura royal family and heads the new Tipra Motha Party (TMP), claims his party's campaign for upcoming polls in the state is drawing more crowds than Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally did. "That tells you the entire story," he told NDTV.

The Tipra Motha will make a big impact in a three-cornered fight, he said, adding that his party will sweep the tribal areas, and also those with significant Muslim and Dalit populations.

The ruling BJP is facing the Left-Congress alliance, expected to put up a stiff fight with their forces combined, and the new entrant TMP, which is expected to take away a significant share of tribal votes that helped BJP come to power.

"The BJP is an election winning machine, it has an expiry date," Pradyot Deb Barma said, adding that "you have to win people's hearts" to win elections.

"We will not compromise on our core agenda of constitutional rights," he added.

Tipra Motha Party (TMP) has demanded a separate state for indigenous communities, 'Greater Tipraland', and its founder, the young former royal, may emerge as a kingmaker in the state polls. Prsdyot Deb Barma, however, is not contesting the Assembly polls himself, and is campaigning for his candidates, many of whom have been fielded from non-tribal areas.

Tribals form 32 percent of the state's population.

In case of a deadlock with no alliance or party able to gain majority in the three-cornered elections to the Tripura assembly, the Tipra Motha may stake claim to form government, its president Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl has said, according to news agency PTI.

The regional party is also willing to give outside support to any party or alliance (either the BJP or the Congress-Left combine) that manages to form government, provided it agrees "on paper and on the floor of the House" that it will concede to Tipra Motha's demand for creation of a separate tribal state.

Pradyot Deb Barma's slogan -- chini haa, chini shason (our land, our rule) - is believed to have caught on among the tribal people in the state.

The elections to the 60-member Tripura assembly, which includes 20 seats reserved from the tribal areas, are to be held on Wednesday.

In the 2018 elections, BJP had come to power with 36 seats, half of which were won from the tribal areas. With the rise of Tipra Motha, a large chunk of the 20 tribal seats are expected to shift allegiance.

Pradyot Deb Barma's pitch for greater tribal recognition can effectively stoke the latent tribal sentiment of losing electoral relevance due to the inflow of East Bengal refugees from Partition, and during the creation of Bangladesh.

The Tipra Motha party won the 2021 Tripura tribal council polls, defeating the ruling BJP-IPFT alliance, the Left front, and Congress. It is contesting 42 of the total 60 seats, and is seen as the strongest political force in tribals areas.

BJP had secured a 43.59 per cent vote share in 2018 compared to CPI(M)'s 42.22 per cent vote and 2 per cent of the Congress, with most of BJP's gain at Congress's expense.