By Firstdespatch Desk Nov 11, 2023
Agartala, Nov 11(FD) Speculation is rife here that there would be a reshuffle of council of ministers in Tripura at the aftermath of Diwali and the new ministers would be inducted from the main opposition TIPRA Motha.
Sources in the ruling party said the BJP’s central leadership is keen to induct the tribal leaders from TIPRA Motha in the council of ministers if they shun the main demand for a separate state by carving out the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) constituting two third of the state territory.
The other demands include inclusion of ‘Kokborok’, the lingua franca of the state’s tribal population forming one third of the state’s estimated 40 lakh population and passing of the 125th amendment of the constitution to further empower the ADC.
It is learnt that the chief minister Dr Manik Saha has been camping in Delhi now for consultation with the BJP central leadership for filling up three vacant posts in the council of ministers.
Sources said, with the general elections drawing near and the BJP facing challenges from opposition parties in the country is not interested in taking risk for winning all the two parliamentary seats from Tripura.
“Even as we have a lot of differences about the demands of TIPRA Motha, we also cannot take any risk of winning both the loksabha seats in the state”, a highly placed source in ruling BJP said.
Nine-member council of ministers were sworn in on March 8 last after winning the Feb.16 elections in Tripura and three ministerial berths were kept vacant with the possibility that TIPRA Motha will join them.
Amit Shah, accompanied by BJP’s northeast coordinator, Sambit Patra, held a meeting with the ‘TIPRA Motha’ leadership on several occasions to persuade them to join the ministry. However, TIPRA Motha did not want to shift from its main demand for a separate state.
But the ‘Motha’ did not agree to join in the absence of any commitment to fulfill their political demands.
“Our central leadership including home minister Amit Shah is on parleys with Motha’s founder and royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarma. We are flexible to accept their other demands, but cannot anyway accept the demand for a separate state. This is the bone of contention now, but we are hopeful for solutions”, party sources said. FD JK