Tripura VC polls have entered a crucial phase after Chief Minister Manik Saha said the ruling BJP, TIPRA Motha and Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) will contest the upcoming Village Committee elections together. The alliance is being projected by Saha as a strong electoral combination capable of winning the polls, although recent nomination figures and the political dynamics in the tribal areas present a more complicated picture.
BJP, TIPRA Motha and IPFT join hands
The decision to fight together followed a September 4 meeting in New Delhi involving Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Manik Saha and TIPRA Motha founder Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma. BJP Northeast coordinator Sambit Patra was also present at the meeting.
Saha announced on September 5 that the three parties had agreed to jointly contest the Village Committee elections in the areas under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC). The meeting also discussed the implementation of the 2024 tripartite agreement involving the Centre, the Tripura government and TIPRA Motha.
Seat-sharing was initially yet to be finalised. Subsequent discussions focused on distributing seats according to the organisational strength of the alliance partners in different areas. The elections are scheduled for September 28 and cover 587 Village Committees with 4,597 seats.
Tripura VC polls test alliance strength
The Tripura VC polls are particularly significant because they follow a sharply contrasting result in the 2026 TTAADC elections. TIPRA Motha contested those elections separately from the BJP and won 24 of the 28 elected seats. The BJP secured only four seats, while IPFT failed to win a seat.
That result gave TIPRA Motha considerable bargaining power in negotiations over the Village Committee elections. The party also has a strong grassroots presence across the tribal belt, making its organisational network important for any alliance seeking to perform well.
For the BJP, the new arrangement represents an effort to rebuild its position after the setback in the ADC polls. Saha has maintained that shortcomings identified during the earlier election will be addressed and that the alliance will remain intact.
Tripartite accord remains a key factor
The implementation of the 2024 tripartite agreement has been central to the alliance negotiations. TIPRA Motha had previously warned that it could reconsider an electoral understanding with the BJP if commitments related to indigenous concerns, including land rights, were not addressed.
After the latest meeting with Shah, the government indicated that pending issues under the agreement would be pursued in a time-bound manner. The move has helped create the conditions for the three parties to come together for the village-level elections.
Nomination figures raise questions
Despite the alliance announcement, the election arithmetic remains challenging. Recent reports indicate that TIPRA Motha has emerged as the strongest force during the nomination process, while the BJP has not fielded candidates in a substantial number of seats. One report said the BJP skipped more than 57% of the available seats despite the alliance arrangement.
At the same time, thousands of nominations have been filed for the 4,597 seats. Reports on September 9 said more than 10,000 candidates were in the fray, highlighting the scale of the contest and the possibility of intense competition in several areas.
The Left Front has also accused the BJP and TIPRA Motha of obstructing opposition candidates during the nomination process. The ruling parties have faced scrutiny over these allegations as campaigning gathers pace.
Saha banks on alliance for victory
For Saha, the central advantage of the alliance is the combined political and organisational strength of three parties with established support bases among different sections of Tripura’s electorate. The BJP brings its statewide organisation, while TIPRA Motha has demonstrated substantial influence in tribal areas. IPFT also remains part of the ruling coalition.
The BJP government has additionally sought to use the promised implementation of the Tripartite Accord to strengthen its position among indigenous communities. Scheduled Tribes account for around 30% of Tripura’s electorate, making the tribal vote strategically important for the state’s political parties.
The Tripura VC polls will therefore serve as an important test of whether the three-party understanding can translate into coordinated grassroots campaigning and votes.
With voting scheduled for September 28, the focus will now shift to final seat adjustments, candidate withdrawals and campaign coordination. While Manik Saha remains confident that the BJP-TIPRA Motha-IPFT combination can secure victory, the strong showing of TIPRA Motha in the recent ADC election and the uneven nomination picture mean the outcome will depend heavily on how effectively the alliance works at the village level.
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