Tripura: BJP-Tipra Motha Ties Under Strain

Kolkata: Grassroot-level democracy, in the format of village committees in the jurisdiction of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), has not been functional for nearly three years in the North-Eastern state where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a majority in the Assembly elections held in February 2018 and formed the government for the first time.

The last village committee elections in Tripura were held, as scheduled, during the Left Front regime in the last week of February 2016. Its five-year term expired in February 2021 and new village committees should have been in place after the electoral process latest by early March 2021.

The BJP retained power in the 2023 Assembly elections, too. However, the twists and turns so frequent in state elections were manifest in Tripura, too, after the 2023 Assembly polls. The Tipra Motha, led by Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma, head of the erstwhile royal house of Tripura, which  fought the Assembly elections as an opposition party and bagged 13 seats in the 60-member House, joined hands with BJP which gave Tipra Motha two ministerial berths.

The TTAADC jurisdiction, which is under the control of Tipra Motha, has 587 village committees that are similar in every respect to normal gram panchayats. Thus, Tipra Motha, despite being a coalition partner, is having to plead with the dominant partner, BJP, for holding the much-delayed village committee elections.

And judging by the fact that elections for Lok Sabha, Assembly and three-tier panchayats in non-TTAADC areas have been held, it is safe to suggest that BJP has been turning a deaf ear to the repeated pleas of Tipra Motha asking the state election commission to conduct village committee polls.

This issue has strained Tipra Motha’s political equation with BJP and forced by circumstances, Deb Barma’s outfit and its aggrieved supporters have had to knock the doors of the Tripura High Court and seek relief through filing of PILs (public interest litigations) and a writ petition.

The Tripura High Court’s observations and directives, in substance favourable to Tipra Motha, too, were not followed to logical conclusions by the state government and, as a last resort, Deb Barma’s party has had to initiate moves for contempt petitions, according to Tipra Motha spokesperson Anthony Debbarma.

After the expiry of the time allowed to respond and act, the High Court asked the state government what was preventing it from proceeding in the matter and facilitating formation of new village committees through elections. With its back to the wall, the state government has told the HC that it would file a counter affidavit, Debbarma told NewsClick.

Excuses offered by the state government and the state election commission in informal discussions relate to the administration’s preoccupation with fighting the Covid pandemic when the term of the previous village committees had expired in February 2021, as also work for settlement of Bru refugees who had fled from Mizoram in the wake of ethnic conflicts.

Political observers concede there is some merit in these excuses but the ground realities do not justify so much delay. After all, Assembly, panchayat and Lok Sabha elections have been held as scheduled.

The eligible Bru refugees settled in Tripura under the two four-party agreements signed among the Centre, state governments of Tripura and Mizoram. Also, the Mizoram Bru Displaced People’s Forum participated in the Assembly elections in 2023 and Lok Sabha elections in 2024 (The first deal on settlement was signed on July 3, 2018 and the second agreement on permanent settlement was concluded in the course of 2020).

The state BJP leadership fears a rout in the village committee elections and is, therefore, delaying the exercise as much the administrative machinery can manoeuvre, the Tipra Motha spokesperson said. The state government is not considering the fact that in the absence of the new, elected village committees no development work is taking place.

Debbarma said the state government should, at least, have released funds to TTAADC for the work that the village committees are required to do. The state government’s silence is inexplicable; it goes against coalition norms, he added. Although it’s a coalition, there is no consultative mechanism. That’s the most unfortunate part, Debbarma observed. He, however, ruled out Tipra Motha quitting the government. “It’s better to fight from within”, he added.

Meanwhile, Left Front chairman Narayan Kar has blamed the Chief Minister for his lack of initiative in getting the grassroot-level democratic institutions activated through elections.

“The Left Front government did its best to hold village committee polls in the TTAADC jurisdiction when due. BJP is preventing participation of tribals in rural development activity as enshrined in the relevant legislations and administrative orders issued as a follow-up,” Kar told NewsClick.

For the record: The concept of TTAADC is rooted in the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution which aims to protect the rights and culture of the indigenous communities in North-East India. The council was formed by the TTAADC Act of 1979 passed by Parliament. TTAADC was formally constituted on January 15, 1982. It covers 68% plus of Tripura’s geographical area. It was upgraded under the 49th Constitution (Amendment) Act, 1984, which took effect on April 1, 1985. It is governed by 30 members, of whom 28 are elected and two are nominated by the Governor. An executive committee manages the day-to-day administration which is helmed by the chief executive member.

Referring to the two-day meeting of Election Management Bodies on January 23 and 24, 2025, in New Delhi, which was attended by representatives of over a dozen countries, an editorial in The Telegraph edition of January 28 speaks of “peculiar challenges to democratic politics. One of these concerns attempts to undermine elections – a vital element that testifies to the health of a democracy ....”

The writer is a senior independent journalist based in Kolkata, West Bengal.