Agartala, August 31: Tipra Motha supremo Pradyot Kishore Debbarma on Monday ruled out any alliance with the BJP until the constitutional rights promised to indigenous people under the Tipra Accord are implemented.
Reacting to the State Election Commission’s announcement of the schedule for the long-pending TTAADC Village Committee elections, Debbarma said the polls would provide indigenous people an opportunity to exercise their voting and constitutional rights after nearly a decade.
“Until our people get their constitutional rights, which were promised to us in the Tipra Accord, I will not have an alliance,” Debbarma said during a Facebook Live, describing his position as “full and final”.
The Tipra Motha chief also credited his legal battle in the Supreme Court with helping clear the way for the Village Committee elections. The polls have remained pending for several years, and Debbarma said the judicial intervention had helped bring the electoral process back on track.
According to the election schedule announced by the State Election Commission, polling for 587 Village Committees covering 2,634 constituencies and 5,873 seats will be held in a single phase on September 28. Voting will take place from 7 am to 4 pm, with nearly 9.62 lakh voters eligible to exercise their franchise.
Debbarma urged educated, experienced and capable people to contest the Village Committee elections, stressing that candidates should be selected on the basis of integrity, commitment and ability rather than merely on party considerations.
He also described the elections as a significant political test ahead of the 2028 Tripura Assembly polls. Calling for unity among indigenous people, Debbarma said issues such as land rights, political representation, funding and protection of language would remain central to the community’s political future.
The Tipra Motha leader has repeatedly maintained that the implementation of the commitments made under the Tipra Accord remains a key condition for any political understanding with the BJP.
The Supreme Court in June directed the Tripura State Election Commission to conduct the long-pending Village Committee elections in a single phase following a petition filed by Debbarma.
With polling now scheduled for September 28, the elections are expected to assume wider political significance, particularly in the context of the competing claims of indigenous representation and the evolving political equations in Tripura.
