North-East Notes: Keeping Alive The Demand For Separate 'Greater Tipraland' Ahead Of 2023 Tripura Polls
In other news from North-East, demand for separate Frontier Nagaland is also getting louder, Mamata Banerjee is likely to visit Meghalaya next week, and Congress and CPM are getting closer in Tripura.
Ahead of the assembly polls in the north-eastern state of Tripura, due in early 2023, royal scion Pradyot Debbarma-led TIPRA Motha organised a two-day sit-in demonstrations at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on December 5 and 6. The regional party has been demanding a separate state, Greater Twipraland, which is just an extension of the separate “Twipraland” demand raised by BJP's ally, the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura.
Though the “Greater Twipraland" hasn't been specified by Motha leadership, this demand is similar to the Nagalim demand of bringing all Naga-dominated areas under one state. Greater Twipraland is understood to bring all indigenous-dominated areas under one state, including some areas of Bangladesh that were once ruled by the kings of Tripura.
The ruling BJP, the main Opposition CPI(M) and the Congress are opposed to the division of the state as they are aware that the majority of Bengalis living in the plains aren’t going to accept the separate statehood demand. And Pradyot too is aware of this. But he can’t abandon the demand for separate statehood, which brought his Motha to power last year in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), the tribal belt of the state.
The latest sit-in was to send a message to the tribal people that the Motha is serious about the demand and is in no way abandoning it. Pradyot even declared that his party is unlikely to go into a pre-poll alliance with the CPI(M) or the Congress. He also attacked the BJP, which too has been wooing to get his Motha join the NDA. He reiterated that his Motha would only ally with the party that agrees on the separate statehood demand. They will go it alone otherwise. Apart from the 20 reserved seats for Scheduled Tribes (STs), Motha has already said they are likely to contest around 15-16 seats with a sizeable presence of tribals.
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Mamata Banerjee Likely To Visit Meghalaya
West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee is likely to visit Meghalaya next week. This north-eastern state is also going to polls early next year. Currently, TMC is the main opposition party in the state as a result of the defection of 12 Congress MLAs led by former chief minister Mukul Sangma last year. This was a big boost for the TMC that has been trying hard to get a foothold outside West Bengal.
However, things don’t seem to be rosy for the party, which is still viewed as a Bengali party. MLA HM Shangpliang recently resigned from the assembly and is likely to join the BJP, if local media reports are to be believed. In an interview to Shillong Times, he said his supporters are urging him not to continue with Mamata's TMC. In the same interview, he also praised the BJP by negating the views that it is an “anti-Christian party” — thus clearly indicating where his heart lies currently.
It's true that Mukul Sangma, who is from the Garo hills that sends 24 MLAs to the assembly, is a popular leader in the region and the TMC has good prospects under his leadership. But the party should worry about the usual Khasi-Jaintia and Garo hills divide. Sangma doesn’t have much appeal in the Khasi-Jaintia hills. Khasi hills have 29 assembly seats while Jaintia hills represent seven seats in the assembly. Notably, former TMC MLA Sangpliang hails from the Khasi region. That might be the reason why Mamata, if the reports are to be believed, is likely to visit the Shillong region, part of Khasi hills, by giving Garo hills a miss this time.
Growing Closeness Between CPI(M) And Congress
Just ahead of the assembly polls in Tripura, the two Opposition parties — CPI(M) and Congress — are seen to be gradually coming together, burying their old rivalry, to defeat the BJP. On December 7, CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury and Congress MLA Sudip Barman came together to pay respect to the freedom fighters of Tripura on the occasion to celebrate the completion of 75 years of Independence. The meeting was attended by descendants of freedom fighters and a host of civil society where CPI(ML)(L) national general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharjee, Congress leader Ashish Saha and representatives from the CPI and the RSP were also present.
Communist parties and the Congress have been traditionally electoral rivals in this northeastern state since the first Lok Sabha polls of 1951-52. It is not easy to suddenly forget the old rivalry and become allies just to defeat a dominant party. Their supporters and voters aren’t going to easily accept such hasty alliance decisions. Leaders of both parties are aware of this. At the same time, both parties are also aware that despite the BJP not having the momentum it had in the last 2018 assembly polls, it won’t be easy to defeat the BJP individually — a reason why leaders of both parties in recent times are talking about the need to fight the BJP together. It remains to be seen how far this bonhomie goes.
Demand For Separate Frontier Nagaland
This NE state is also likely to see elections early next year and here too there is a demand for a separate state, Frontier Nagaland. The new state being demanded comprises six districts — Mon, Tuensang, Kiphire, Longleng, Noklak and Shamator. According to the Eastern Nagaland People’s Organisation (ENPO), an umbrella organisation of seven tribal bodies, the eastern part of the state has always been neglected.
The separate state issue got limelight when the seven Naga tribes — Chang, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Phom, Tikhir, Sangtam and Yimkhiung — decided to boycott the internationally acclaimed 10-day Hornbill Festival of the state. Amid this, on December 7, an 11-member delegation met Union Home Minister Amit Shah, seeking for a separate state in the eastern part, which sends 20 MLAs to the state assembly. Also part of the delegation was Rajya Sabha member Phonyak Konyak, the first BJP member from the state to go to Parliament.
This development comes at a time when many Naga bodies and parties like Nagaland People’s Front, currently a part of the ruling UDA government led by Neiphio Rio of the National Democratic People’s Party, are demanding a permanent solution to the Naga issue. The matter has been facing a deadlock due to NSCN(IM)'s insistence on separate Naga flag and Constitution and the Narendra Modi-led BJP government not accepting the demands. Though the separate statehood issue dates back to 2010, this demand brings out the fissures existing among the different Naga tribes and this comes at a time when the NSCN(IM) is aiming for a Nagalim or a Greater Nagaland. Surely, this is likely to give leverage to the Centre while dealing with NSCN(IM). Significantly, Amit Shah has also promised the ENPO delegation to personally visit Eastern Nagaland by January next year.
The author is a political commentator.
[Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs, and views expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs, and views of ABP News Network Pvt Ltd.]
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