Amit Shah, Nadda meet TIPRA Motha chief after Tripura govt’s swearing-in
TIPRA Motha chief Pradyot Debbarma said the Union Home Ministry has assured to appoint an interlocutor to solve problems of the tribal people and added that there was no discussion on his party joining the BJP-IPFT government
Union home minister Amit Shah and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J P Nadda held discussions with TIPRA Motha chief Pradyot Kishore Debbarma after the swearing-in ceremony of the BJP-Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT)-led government in the northeastern state on Wednesday.
Debbarma later told reporters that the Union Home Ministry has assured to appoint an interlocutor in next two-three days to solve long-pending problems of the tribal people in the state and expressed gratitude to the home minister. He, however, said that issues such as alliance and cabinet were not discussed in the meeting, ending all speculations about the TIPRA Motha joining the BJP-IPFT government.
“The home minister has started the process for a constitutional solution for the indigenous people of Tripura. An interlocutor for this process will be appointed and this will be within a specific time frame . I thank the home minister for understanding the genuine problems of the son of the soil. We successfully got our Bru people rehabilitation in our state after 23 years by signing the Bru accord and today we have started a huge dialogue to ensure that our survival and existence are protected. Issues such as alliance and cabinet were never discussed only the interest of our dopha was discussed,” Pradyot wrote on Twitter.
TIPRA Motha, a regional party floated by Debbarma in 2021, emerged as the main opposition after securing 13 seats in the 60-seated Assembly polls held on February 16.
After the swearing-in of the state government, Shah arrived at the State Guest House in Agartala at around 2pm after visiting Tripurasundari temple located at Udaipur in Gomati district to hold the meeting that continued for over two hours. BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra, Assam chief minister and BJP’s North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) chairperson Himanta Biswa Sarma were among others who attended the meeting.
“We had a comprehensive discussion about tribal welfare in the meeting. Series of meetings will occur in coming days to draw out solution based on our slogan of Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas,” Patra told reporters.
He further added that they had neither discussed about possibilities of the TIPRA Motha becoming part of the government in the state nor about sharing ministerial berths to them.
Two months after formation, the TIPRA Motha party swept the 28-seated Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), replacing the Left Front the same year keeping Greater Tipraland as their poll agenda. Later, the party secured 13 seats after contesting in 42 seats in the Assembly poll results announced on March 2.
Debbarma declined to accept proposals of pre-poll alliance from both the ruling BJP and the Left-Congress combine saying that his party didn’t forge alliance as he didn’t receive any written assurances over Constitutional solution for tribal welfare in the state.
Nine council of ministers including chief minister Manik Saha sworn in on Wednesday in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah, Nadda and other top leaders at Swami Vivekananda Maidan in Agartala.
