Agartala, July 17 — With an eye on next year’s elections to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), the ruling BJP on Thursday held a crucial ‘Janajati Chintan Shivir’ in Agartala, aiming to strengthen its organisational base among tribal communities.
The day-long meeting, held at Gitanjali Guest House, was attended by Chief Minister Manik Saha, State BJP President Rajib Bhattacharjee, Tribal Welfare Minister Bikash Debbarma, tribal MLAs, TTAADC members, and key tribal leaders. The BJP leadership discussed developmental issues and reviewed the party’s tribal outreach strategy ahead of the politically significant TTAADC polls.
Tripura, with a population of around four million, has nearly one-third tribals, who play a decisive role in the state’s electoral politics. Of the 60 Assembly seats, 20 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes.
Sharing updates on social media, CM Saha said, “Under the visionary leadership of PM Narendra Modi, good governance has reached both plains and hills. The BJP’s determined efforts are bringing socio-economic and political upliftment to Janajati communities.”
The BJP, which won six of the 20 tribal-reserved seats in the 2023 Assembly elections, faces stiff competition from the Tipra Motha Party (TMP). The TMP, led by royal scion Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma, emerged as a dominant tribal force, winning 13 seats in the 2023 polls and 18 of 28 seats in the 2021 TTAADC elections.
The BJP’s ally, Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), managed only one seat in 2023 and drew a blank in the 2021 TTAADC polls.
With TMP now aligned with the BJP since March 2024, the saffron party is recalibrating its tribal outreach to consolidate support in the TTAADC region, which spans over two-thirds of the state’s territory and has over 12 lakh tribal residents.
