By- Banibrata Datta (FTFMI)
Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman questions Greater Tipraland demand; TIPRA Motha chief Pradyut Debbarma says “Cong champion of self-destruction”
Speaking at a Congress event at Karamcherra in Dhalai district, Barman, the party’s lone MLA in the state, said tribal parties and organisations like the Tripura Upajati Juba Samiti, Tripura National Volunteers, National Socialist Party of Tripura and Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura had all “played with the sentiments of tribal people”.
In whatmight hurt efforts by Opposition parties to stitch together an alliance against the ruling BJP before the fast-approaching Assembly elections in Tripura, senior Congress leader Sudip Roy Barman Tuesday attacked tribal regional parties, accusing them of using tribals for political gains.
Speaking at a Congress event at Karamcherra in Dhalai district, Barman, the party’s lone MLA in the state, said tribal parties and organisations like the Tripura Upajati Juba Samiti, Tripura National Volunteers, National Socialist Party of Tripura and Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura had all “played with the sentiments of tribal people”.
“In 2018 (Assembly polls), it was all about Tipraland. After the IPFT (a BJP ally) came to power, Tipraland was forgotten. Now a new word has been added, (to demand) Greater Tipraland… How will people benefit from this? No one is trying to solve the real problems,” Barman said, listing the lack of safe drinking water, power, healthcare and education as the issues parties should be focusing on in tribal areas.
The Greater Tipraland call has been made by the TIPRA Motha party of royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarma. Its fast rise has been largely at the cost of the IPFT, with several leaders of the latter crossing sides.
All parties have been trying to woo the TIPRA Motha for an alliance, but Debbarma has held out on a commitment. Barman, who has praised Debbarma’s “popularity” and “organisation”, was among the first leaders to call for a “strategic understanding” among anti-BJP parties to take on the ruling front.
Recently, the five Left political parties — CPI(M), CPI, All India Forward Bloc, Revolutionary Socialist Party, CPI(M-L) – along with the Congress appealed to the people to come close across political lines against the BJP’s “misrule”. The signatories said they had the TIPRA Motha’s support in principle.
However, the delay on Debbarma’s part to be officially part of the anti-BJP front appears to have tested Barman’s patience. In his address to party workers Tuesday, the six-term MLA who is back in the Congress after a short stint in the BJP said: “If any party, regional or otherwise, if they decide to contest alone, then we shall decide and you decide too that their (vote) box remains empty in the next elections.” In a reference seemingly directed at Debbarma, he said he wanted to ask “a leader of a party” face to face questions regarding their statehood demand.
Debbarma’s stand has been that the Motha would ally with anyone who offers written guarantee on the statehood demand, though he has often attacked the BJP over its Hindutva politics.
Soon after Barman’s comments, the TIPRA Motha chief tweeted: “Never uttered a word against Priyanka Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi yet the local INC-Tripura mocks our rightful demand. State congress is a champion on self destruction. Don’t mock the emotions of the indigenous ppl (people) or you will get a befitting reply. We know our constitutional rights.”
Speaking to The Indian Express, Debbarma said the Motha did not need lessons in contesting elections. “We defeated the BJP in the council (the autonomous district council), we are going to fight the BJP in the Assembly elections. The Congress has been unable to defeat the BJP… We don’t need any lessons on how to defeat the BJP,” he said, differentiating the party from the Left which, he said, had a base in the state after being in power for 30 years or so in Tripura.
Adding that the Congress had been out of power in Tripura since 1993, Debbarma called Barman’s remarks “a sign of immaturity” and said the party seemed “unaware of the sentiments of lakhs of tribals in the state”.
CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury reiterated that all parties, regional and national, would come together to “defend the rights of people” against the BJP, while calling Barman’s remarks “his personal views”.
Chaudhury also praised the TIPRA Motha, saying it has repeatedly talked of a “Constitutional solution”. “For the first time, a regional party from day one has maintained the demand for a Constitutional solution. It shows they have democratic sense. They are also saying they are not against any community… So there is scope for negotiation.
