Ready for talks with BJP on constitutional rights of Tripura's indigenous people: Tipra Motha chief

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday had said that the BJP is ready to work with the Tipra Motha to address the issues raised by the regional party, but the saffron camp is against the division of the northeastern state.

Tipra Motha Chief Pradyot Manikya Debbarman | file photo | Photo Credit: PTI

The Tipra Motha on Sunday said that it was ready to sit with the BJP for a "face-to-face meeting" to find a "constitutional solution" to Tiprasa people's problems, a day after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated that the party's concerns should be addressed through dialogue.

Taking to Facebook, former royal scion Pradyot Manikya Debbarman, who helms the regional outfit, also gave assurance that his party will not let down people who had voted for him.

"If we are respectfully invited for talks on constitutional rights - economic, political, language -- we will participate. We are sons of the soil... We are ready for talks to find a constitutional solution to the problems of indigenous people. And, the talks cannot be about ministerial posts or individual benefits," he said in a video posted on the networking platform.

Mr. Debbarman warned that any party that seeks to rule Tripura by ignoring its indigenous people will find it difficult to run the state smoothly in the future.

Notably, he did not talk about his party’s demand for Greater Tipraland in the video, the poll plank that helped the outfit emerge as the second largest part in the state, having clinched 13 ST-reserved seats in the recently concluded Assembly elections. The party, however, failed to bag any of the 22 general seats that it contested.

Mr. Sarma had on Saturday said that the BJP is ready to work with the Tipra Motha to address the issues raised by the regional party, but the saffron camp is against the division of the northeastern state.

In another post, the Tipra Motha chairman said, "Majority of the Tiprasa voted for Motha. Majority of the Muslims voted for CPI(M) and majority of the general areas voted for BJP - yet the general area leaders from the opposition blame us for them not getting support of their own communities!"

He asserted that Jitendra Choudhury of the CPI(M), "the party's CM face", could manage to win from Sabroom seat as the Tipra Motha hadn't fielded any candidate from the constituency.

"For 25 years, because of Tiprasa votes, the CPI(M) could rule Tripura," Debbarman added.