The Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) on Sunday evening declared its first list of 18 candidates for the elections to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) slated for April 4.
The party which snapped its agreement with newly-floated Tipraha Indigenous People’s Regional Alliance (TIPRA) on jointly contesting all elections in the State, said it would soon announce the second list for the remaining 10 seats.
Sources said top leaders of the IPFT were still negotiating with its alliance partner BJP over seat sharing and declaration of the first list of 18 candidates was a ploy to put pressure on the saffron party.
IPFT has been demanding 22 seats in 28-member TTAADC which was repeatedly rejected by the BJP.
IPFT is the second political party to announce list of candidates after the CPI(M)-led Left Front.
The BJP and the Congress are two major parties that have not declared candidates yet.
IPFT chief N.C. Debbarma and general secretary Mevar Kumar Jamatia announced the first list of 18 candidates at a press conference, but avoided tough questions from newsmen.
Mevar Kumar Jamatia only said that the demand for Tipraland or a separate State for indigenous people remained their main political plank.
Mr. Jamatia’s spouse Geeta Debbarma figured in IPFT’s first list.
Limited authority
The TTAADC was constituted in 1982 under Sixth Schedule of the Constitution and it has limited authority over 68% of the State’s total geographical area.
Its 28 members are elected through popular franchises and two members are nominated by the State Governor.
