Amit Shah says Tripura tripartite agreement to be implemented in two phases

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has assured that the tripartite agreement concerning the indigenous people of Tripura will be implemented in two phases.

A high-level meeting was held at the Union Home Minister’s residence in New Delhi on Friday. The meeting was attended by Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, TIPRA Motha founder Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma, BJP North East coordinator Sambit Patra, and senior officials of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

Chief Minister Saha said in a post on social media that he had held a “fruitful and constructive discussion” with the Union home minister on matters of mutual importance and the development, welfare and interests of the people of Tripura.


A senior official in Tripura said, “Discussion was on the implementation of the tripartite agreement, protection of the identity and interests of the indigenous tribal population, and issues related to land rights under the provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.”

The official said that Shah assured that necessary land rights documents would be provided as part of the process.

A tripartite agreement was signed in the presence of Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah between the Government of India, the Government of Tripura and the Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance/TIPRA, popularly known as Tripura Motha, and other stakeholders, in New Delhi on March 2, 2024.

Under the pact, it was agreed to amicably resolve all issues of the indigenous people of Tripura relating to history, land and political rights, economic development, identity, culture and language. Along with this, it was agreed to constitute a Joint Working Group/Committee to work out and implement the mutually agreed points on all the issues in a time-bound manner to ensure an honourable solution.

Ahead of the September 28 Village Committee elections in Tripura’s tribal areas, the BJP is eyeing an alliance with TMP. Earlier, several inconclusive discussions were held in Tripura between BJP leaders and their ally TMP about an alliance in the upcoming Village Committee elections within the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) areas.

TMP supremo Debbarma on Wednesday, in a video message, categorically said that his party would not enter into any electoral alliance if the provisions of the tripartite agreement, particularly those concerning the land rights of indigenous tribals, are not implemented.

After prolonged negotiations, the TMP, then in the opposition, signed a tripartite agreement with the Centre and the Tripura government on March 2, 2024. Subsequently, the TMP, which has 13 MLAs, joined the BJP-led coalition government on March 7, 2024.

Five central BJP leaders -- National General Secretary (Organisation) B.L. Santhosh, the party's Northeast coordinator Sambit Patra, Northeast Co-Coordinator Rajiv Babbar, central observers Rajdeep Roy and G.R. Rabindra Raju -- arrived in Agartala earlier this week and held a series of meetings with state leaders over two days (September 1 and 2) to discuss preparations and strategies for the Village Committee elections.

Elections to 4,597 seats in 2,634 constituencies in 587 Village Committees will be held on September 28 after a gap of 10 years.

Since 2021, the politically important TTAADC has been governed by the TMP, led by Debbarma.

In the April 12 TTAADC elections this year, the TMP won 24 of the 28 elected seats, while the BJP secured only four.