No support to any political party for Tripura bypolls, says TIPRA Motha

The Tipra Motha party, the primary opposition in BJP-governed Tripura, has declared that it will not endorse any candidate in the upcoming by-election for two Assembly constituencies scheduled for September 5.

Initially, the party had announced its decision to abstain from participating in the by-polls for Dhanpur and Boxanagar seats in Sepahijala district.

Party president BK Hrangkhawl conveyed that the Tipra Motha has refrained from fielding its own candidates and will not instruct its party members and supporters to vote for any specific candidate in the by-elections.

This decision comes after the party’s founder, Pradyot Debbarma, met with Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi to discuss the rights and well-being of indigenous people on August 26 just before the by-polls, where the primary contenders are CPIM and BJP.
The Left party recently held in talks with the Tipra Motha and requested their support in the by-elections.

Following this, the Leader of the Opposition Animesh Debbarma in a press conference said, “Party members and supporters have the liberty to exercise their democratic rights according to their preferences. The by-elections do not hold greater significance compared to the demand for the creation of a separate Greater Tipraland state for Tripura’s tribal population.”

He further said, “The CPIM has fielded its candidates. Why should we support them? Let the people make their choice.”
Notably, the bypoll in the Boxanagar constituency was necessitated due to CPIM MLA Samsul Haque’s death and Union Minister Pratima Bhoumik’s resignation from the MLA position necessitated the by-election in Dhanpur.

For the by-election, the CPIM-led Left Front has fielded Kaushik Chanda and Mijan Hussain for the Dhanpur and Boxanagar assembly constituencies respectively.

On the other hand, the BJP nominated Taffajal Hussain and Bindu Debnath for the Boxanagar and Dhanpur constituencies respectively.