No possibility of alliance with BJP, outfit to contest 30-35 assembly seats: Tipra Motha chief

Agartala, Mar 21(PTI) Hours after newly joined BJP leader Patal Kanya Jamatia said that Tipra Motha was a small regional party that won’t survive in the long run, the outfit’s supremo, Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma, said his camp would never forge an alliance with the saffron brigade, given its official stand.

Debbarma also said that his outfit, which had been demanding a separate state for the indigenous people of the state, would field candidates in at least 30-35 seats in the upcoming assembly polls.

Elections to the 60-member House in Tripura are scheduled to be held in the first half of 2023.

Jamatia, shortly after the merger of his party, Tripura People’s Front, with the BJP, had said on Sunday that Tipra Motha was a “small regional outfit that won’t survive for long”.

In a video statement that went viral on social media on Sunday evening, Debbarma retorted, “We may be a small regional party but we are honest and not here to compromise… The BJP is a big and rich party with a strong organizational base. If this is the official position of the BJP, there is no possibility of alliance in future.”

“Let us see who wins in the end. We will answer them on the ground. Arrogance leads to the downfall of the high and mighty,” he added.

The Tipra Motha had recently scripted a stunning performance in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTADC) elections, bagging 18 out of 28 seats.

The BJP managed to secure just nine seats. PTI