BJP, IPFT announces Pre-Poll Alliance In Tripura
HY News
29 January, 2023 10:25 am IST
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In a surprise turn of events, the BJP on Saturday managed to hold on to ally Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) for the coming Assembly elections.
The IPFT announced that it would fight five seats in a tie-up between the two parties, at a press conference attended by the top state BJP leadership.
The development is a boost for the BJP as it seeks re-election in Tripura, with the tribal vote set to be divided between the IPFT and the fast-rising TIPRA Motha.
It is reported that the IPFT had announced that it was holding talks with the Motha for a possible merger. The IPFT announcement Saturday came hours after the BJP released a list of 48 names, while indicating that possibilities of a tie-up were still on. The five seats announced for the IPFT were ones on which the BJP did not name candidates.
In 2018, the IPFT had contested 12 seats, and won eight. However, several of its legislators have recently quit and joined the Motha, decreasing its bargaining power.
Set up in 1999, the IPFT had started on a high by winning the 2002 elections to the tribal areas autonomous council, but then suffered a series of splits. It had resurfaced in 2009 with a slogan for ‘Tipraland’ — a proposed statehood for tribals – and was believed to have won its seats last time on that plank.
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