Tripura Assembly elections: TIPRA Motha releases list of candidates

The Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (Tipra Motha) on Monday released a list of candidates ahead of the Tripura Assembly elections.

The party headed by Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma has fielded Nitai Sarkar from Bamutia, Swapna Debbarama from Mandaibazar, Biswajit Kalai from Takarjala, Ashish Das from Kamalasagar, MD Shah Alam Miah from Bishalgarh, Manav Debbarma from Golaghati, Abhijit Sarkar from Teliamura, Kshir Mohan Das from Kakraban-Salgarh, Abhhijit Malakar from Rajnagar, Pathan Lal Jamatia from Ampinagar, Nandita Debbarma Reang from Raima Valley and Ranjan Sinha from Chandipur.

Earlier, on January 27, amid the buzz of a possible alliance with the ruling BJP, Pradyot Deb Barma clarified that 'no alliance' will be formed with anyone in the upcoming state Assembly polls.

Sharing a video for his supporters on Twitter, he said, "A lot of people have speculated in the last three days that we are about to form an alliance. I have said it before and I am saying it again that unless we get in writing from the government of India that our demands will be met constitutionally, I will not form any alliance. I don't blame the people who don't believe it. Because in 46 years, after 1977, every regional Tiprasa political party has gone to Delhi and has come back with an agreement before the election. But after the election, Tiprasa doesn't get anything."

"I have said this before and am repeating it, we will not compromise on our demands. We went to Delhi to discuss and we heard them. If we didn't go, they would've mentioned it that despite the invitation, we skipped the meeting," added Deb Barma.

According to the sources, while Congress and the Left have come together, the ruling BJP is still in search of an ally.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has declared an official list of 43 candidates, with several new faces.

Former chief minister Manik Sarkar will keep himself away from the fray this time, confirmed sources.

Further, the sources said as part of the seat sharing deal with the Left, the Congress will contest 13 seats while another 4 will be left for the smaller parties to contest.

Earlier, on January 19, the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) was also invited by Pradyot to enter into an alliance with his unit.

The INPT alliance, which came together with the BJP in 2001, separated in 2009.

The party again allied with the BJP in the 2018 Assembly election, winning 8 of the 9 seats it contested.

With a population of over 28 lakh, Tripura will vote for 60 Assembly seats, with the BJP searching for its second, consecutive term in office after uprooting the decades-old CPM government in 2018.