Tipra Motha Party (TMP) chief Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma has announced a strategic shift ahead of the next Tripura Assembly elections, stating that the party will contest only 25-30 seats, a reduction from the 42 constituencies it contested in 2023. The TMP had won 13 seats in the previous election.
Tripura’s 60-member Assembly includes 20 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes (STs), while tribal voters significantly influence another 22 constituencies. With a strong support base across the state’s tribal belts, the TMP is considered as a key political force among Indigenous communities.
“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 said on Thursday while speaking at the Kathalia-Mirza constituency of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC).
When asked about the party’s main rivals in the TTAADC elections slated for April 2026, Debbarma kept his cards close, saying only, “Let’s see.”
Reiterating the party’s core agenda, he said the TMP would continue championing the rights and welfare 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.
Debbarma also commented on the status of the Tiprasa Accord, which the TMP signed with the Centre and the Tripura government in September 2024 in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The agreement seeks development measures and safeguards for Indigenous communities.
He said he had recently spoken to leaders in Delhi. “Privately, everyone agrees it should have been implemented. Until it is done, why should we trust anyone?” he remarked.
Also read: Tripura seeing exfiltration, not infiltration: CM Saha
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