Tribes and Vibe: BJP, CPIM, Tipra Motha try their best to woo Tripura’s indigenous voters

Tribal votes and issues are the main focus of Tripura elections this time. Political parties are also trying their best to woo this community and are projecting tribal faces in the campaign.

Have a look at the stand of each party:

Tipra Motha

Pradyut Manikya, a royal scion and founder of Tipra Motha, has projected himself as a pioneer of the indigenous people. They speculate that they are the only party fighting for the rights of tribals. Their demand is Greater Tipraland. Pradyut himself is a tribal face and most of the candidates of Tipra Motha are tribals.

BJP

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has forged an alliance with the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), giving them five seats. The IPFT is fighting for the indigenous people, but locals say they have lost the support of tribals in some places. On the other hand, BJP has fielded Union minister Pratima Bhowmik from Dhanpur constituency this time. Bhowmik is a tribal face, represents a backward class and has mass appeal. Political circles feel that if the BJP comes to power, the party may give him a bigger role. Moreover, in the candidate list too, the BJP has struck a balance between tribal and non-tribal faces.

CPM

This time the CPIM has also presented a tribal face. CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chowdhary is contesting from Sabroom. Though the party has not declared him as the chief ministerial face, there is talk in political circles that he is the face of the alliance. Moreover, for the past five years, Jitendra Chowdhary has worked hard to fight the BJP.

While all parties on record say they are giving equal importance to tribals and non-tribals, there is a difference on the ground. Experts say that BJP lost tribal votes in 2019 and this is a matter of concern for them.

20 seats of ST and 10 seats of SC will be important this time.

read all latest politics news Here