Agartala: Tipra Motha Party (TMP) supremo Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma has announced that his party will contest only 25–30 seats in the next Tripura Assembly elections, a shift from the 2023 polls, where the TMP fielded candidates in 42 constituencies and won 13 seats.
The Tripura Assembly has a total of 60 seats.
In Tripura, 20 seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs), and tribal voters play a decisive role in 22 additional constituencies. The TMP maintains a strong base across the state’s tribal areas.
“If we had contested only 20 seats in 2023, the BJP might not have returned to power for a second term. We have learnt from that. In the upcoming Assembly elections, we will contest in 25–30 seats,” Debbarma told reporters at the Kathalia-Mirza constituency of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) on Thursday.
When asked about the party’s main opponents in the TTAADC elections scheduled for April 2026, he said, “Let’s see.”
Debbarma reiterated the TMP’s focus on advocating for the rights of the Tiprasa (Indigenous) people. “We are not against any party. The Congress is nowhere on the ground, the CPI(M) has retreated into its old shell, and local BJP leaders are making noise. The ground support is entirely with the TMP. Without doing anything for the Indigenous people, they will not get votes,” he said.
On the status of the Tiprasa Accord, the TMP chief said he had spoken to leaders in Delhi. “Privately, everyone agrees it should have been implemented. Until it is done, why should we trust anyone?”
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The TMP signed the accord with the Centre and the Tripura government in September 2024 in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the welfare and development of Indigenous communities.
