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IPFT Snubs Pradyot, Backs Fresh National Statehood Stir

  • By Thetripurapost Desk, Agartala
  • Nov 30, 2025
  • 1372

Signalling a fresh phase of flux in the politics of India’s Northeast, the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) — a minor yet strategically placed ally in Tripura’s BJP-led coalition government — has categorically rejected Tipra Motha founder Pradyot Kishore Debbarma’s call for unification under his proposed “One North East” platform. Instead, the party has chosen to double down on its long-standing demand for a separate tribal state, Tipraland, marking a decisive reassertion of its organisational identity.

Emerging from a meeting of its Central Executive Committee on Sunday, the tribal-oriented regional party announced its participation in a national-level protest to be convened in New Delhi by the National Federation of New States (NFNS) before December 20. The mobilisation seeks to revive statehood movements across India, positioning IPFT within a broader, coordinated push for the reorganisation of states along ethnic and administrative lines.

“We have decided to join the protest at Jantar Mantar as part of the national collective advocating for the creation of new states,” IPFT general secretary Swapan Debbarma told reporters. The meeting was attended by Minister Shukla Charan Noatia — the party’s lone MLA — and former minister and party president Prem Kumar Reang.

Internal Dynamics and Strategic Divergence

IPFT’s rejection of Pradyot’s overture underscores deeper fissures within Tripura’s indigenous political spectrum. Pradyot, through his “One North East” initiative, has sought to consolidate regional tribal movements into a more unified political force. Yet, IPFT remains unconvinced.

Reang argued that the optics of Pradyot’s recent Agartala rally — heavily dominated by Tipra Motha’s flags and symbolism — revealed a centralising tendency that risked subsuming smaller organisations. “They may have greater resources, but we prefer to rely on our core principles,” he remarked, emphasising the party’s reluctance to be overshadowed by a larger regional entity.

Swapan Debbarma echoed this sentiment more explicitly:
“We do not want to dissolve our organisation or merge it with any other party. We also do not intend to help a new political entity emerge at the cost of our own existence.”

Statehood Politics Back at the Forefront

The party’s renewed activism also revives the long-shelved debate over separate statehood for Tripura’s tribal-majority regions. IPFT reaffirmed that the creation of Tipraland remains its central ideological priority. Complementing this demand, the party pushed for the upgrade of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) into a full-fledged territorial council, and the long-pending passage of the 125th Constitutional Amendment Bill.

Analysts say this repositioning suggests the emergence of a competitive nationalist narrative within Tripura’s indigenous political space, where parties are recalibrating their strategies ahead of upcoming tribal elections and the broader political calendar.

A Brewing Contest for Tribal Leadership

IPFT’s stance effectively sets the stage for a renewed contest for indigenous political leadership in Tripura. Pradyot’s expansive pan-ethnic framework and IPFT’s insistence on organisational autonomy represent two divergent trajectories — one aimed at consolidation, the other at preservation.

As political alignments shift and statehood demands regain national visibility, the coming months may prove pivotal for the tribal politics of Tripura and the larger Northeast. Whether this revived activism translates into meaningful negotiation with the Centre or devolves into further fragmentation remains an open question — but the signals point unmistakably to an escalating churn.