Tripura tribal party to stick to ‘Greater Tipraland’ even as two party MLAs join BJP-led ministry

Agartala, March 7 (IANS) Newly-appointed Tripura minister and senior Tipra Motha Party (TMP) leader Animesh Debbarma said on Thursday that his party would continue its demand for ‘Greater Tipraland’ (a separate state for the tribals) under Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution.Animesh Debbarma and another TMP legislator, Brishaketu Debbarma, were on Thursday inducted into the BJP-led coalition government headed by Chief Minister Manik Saha.After joining the BJP, Animesh Debbarma said the TMP cannot forget its core issues for the all-round development of the tribals, who constitute one-third of Tripura’s four million population.“Earlier, we were in the opposition. Now with the inclusion into the Cabinet, we have the authority and power to take forward our issues. We will continue to demand for ‘Greater Tipraland’ unless it is achieved,” he told the media.In its maiden electoral battle in the Assembly polls held in February last year, the TMP had fielded 42 candidates, including 20 on the tribal reserved seats. The tribal party, which has been in charge of the politically important Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) since April 2021, won 13 seats in the 60-member Tripura Assembly with a vote share of 19.69 per cent.Animesh Debbarma, a computer science engineer who worked with a Central PSU before joining