Tripura party defers formation of new tribal council pending Bengal poll results

Agartala: The Tipra Motha Party (TMP), which retained control of the politically-crucial Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) in the recent elections, will form the new council after observing the outcome of the West Bengal Assembly elections, a party leader said on Friday.

A newly-elected senior TMP leader said that the new council, including the election of the new Chairman and Chief Executive Member (CEM), would be constituted only after assessing the results of the West Bengal Assembly elections.

Out of the total 294 Assembly seats in West Bengal, polling was conducted on Thursday in 152 constituencies, while the remaining 142 constituencies will go to the polls in the second phase on April 29.

The Tribal Welfare Department of the Tripura government, in a notification, stated that the state’s Law Secretary, Sankari Das, will administer the oath or affirmation to the newly-elected members of the TTAADC on April 27.

“Generally, after taking the oath or affirmation, the newly-elected members elect the new Chairman and the CEM. However, this time we will wait for the outcome of the West Bengal elections,” the TMP leader told IANS, requesting anonymity.

The TMP, a partner in the BJP-led coalition government, secured 24 out of 28 seats, sweeping the TTAADC elections, the results of which were declared on April 17.

The BJP managed to win only four seats. The BJP and its two tribal-based allies — TMP and the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) — had contested the April 12 TTAADC polls separately after failing to reach an electoral understanding.

Since 2021, the TMP has governed the strategically important council, widely regarded as the second most significant constitutional and political institution in Tripura after the state Assembly.

The 30-member TTAADC comprises 28 elected representatives and two members nominated by the state government, and it administers nearly 70 per cent of Tripura’s 10,491 sq km geographical area.

The tribal-based TMP secured 24 seats, six more than in the previous elections. Outgoing Chairman Jagadish Debbarma and outgoing Chief Executive Member (CEM) Purna Chandra Jamatia, both senior TMP leaders, have been re-elected.

The BJP, however, managed to win only four seats this time, a sharp decline from the 10 seats it secured in the 2021 TTAADC elections.

The CPI (M)-led Left Front and the Congress, as in the 2021 polls, once again failed to open their accounts.

In the 2021 TTAADC elections, the BJP had contested 11 seats and won nine, while a BJP-backed Independent candidate also emerged victorious and later joined the TMP.

The TMP had then won 18 seats, wresting control of the council from the CPI(M)-led Left Front after several years.

Political observers noted that with two consecutive victories in the TTAADC, the TMP has further consolidated its position in Tripura’s political landscape.

Tribal communities account for nearly one-third of Tripura’s 4.2 million population and remain a decisive factor in the state’s politics.

IANS