Asserting that the BJP has a long tradition of maintaining coalition dharma, the party said on Thursday that it would continue its alliance with the IPFT during the next assembly elections, scheduled for early next year.
The Saffron Party and the Indigenous Peoples Front Tripura (IPFT) jointly fought the 2018 Assembly elections and took power away from the Left Front.
“The BJP pays respect to its allies, the saffron camp never throws out its electoral partners. Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had formed the National Democratic Alliance government… and the NDA still exists”, state party chief Rajib Bhattacharjee told PTI.
The BJP will continue its electoral alliance with the IPFT as the agreement was signed in advance of the 2018 Assembly elections, the BJP leader said.
The BJP-IPFT came into power in 2018, winning 43 seats in the 60-member assembly. The BJP bagged 35 seats and the IPFT 8.
“The electoral bond will continue with the IPFT,” he said adding the BJP’s central leadership already held a meeting with the senior leaders of the regional party in New Delhi recently where a well-designed election strategy was chalked out for the 2023 elections.
He also said there was no initiative to forge an alliance with Tipra Motha, another regional party, that runs the only autonomous district council in the northeast state.
“There has been no discussion or dialogue regarding stitching alliance with Tipra Motha,” he said.
The Tipra Motha is ready to talk to any political party, be it the BJP or the Congress, over an electoral alliance but will not compromise with ‘Greater Tipraland’ demand, party’s central committee member Animesh Debbarma, who is also the Deputy Chief Executive Member (DCEM) of Tripura Tribal Areas of Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), said on Thursday.
“As of now, there is no offer for a talk on alliance from any political party. We are a small regional party and let the offer come from a big party. Our demand for Greater Tipraland is very much constitutional and not against any political party, group or people”, he added.
The demand for “Grand Tipraland” is intended to include all tribes living within and outside the TTAADC region.
The idea of “Greater Tipraland” goes beyond Tripura and also aims to include Tripuris living in Assam, Mizoram, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh.
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