CORRESPONDENT
AGARTALA: As per the commitment given by the state government to the Supreme Court, elections to the 687 Village Committees, the counterparts of Panchayats in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), are scheduled to be held on September 27. However, uncertainty prevails over the possible political alignments in the state.
Political observers have predicted that the CPI(M) and Congress could form one alliance, while the BJP, TIPRA Motha and IPFT could come together on the other side. However, no certainty exists regarding such alignments. According to sources, the possibility of an alliance between the CPI(M) and Congress has already diminished, while the prospect of an alliance between the BJP and TIPRA Motha remains alive, though dormant. Relations between the CPI(M) and Congress deteriorated during the last TTAADC election and the Dharmanagar Assembly by-election, and there are no signs of reconciliation.
On the other side, there has been no significant political activity to indicate an alliance, although no one is ruling out the possibility. The current political situation in the hills indicates that TIPRA Motha remains in a dominant position, while the BJP appears to have withdrawn from the ADC areas. The BJP has made no noticeable effort to regain its strength in the hilly regions. Instead, its support base has been eroding steadily as many of its supporters have joined TIPRA Motha. Significantly, even non-tribal residents of the ADC areas have been joining the party. Many believe that non-tribals are joining TIPRA Motha due to a sense of insecurity and the BJP's perceived failure to stand by them, despite their having been the backbone of the saffron party during the past several years and successive elections. .