Letter signed by 15 TTAADC members was fake: TTAADC CEM

The Chief Executive Member (CEM) of the TTAADC Radhacharan Debbarma on Tuesday claimed that the letter signed by 15 members fo the tribal council for a no-confidence motion against him was "fake".

The Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) is controlled by the Left parties.

Addressing a press conference here Debbarma in the presence of 23 elected executive members (EMs) of the tribal council claimed that the letter of no-confidence motion signed by 15-members and sent to the chairman of the council and Tripura Governor Ramesh Bais was "fake".

"It was a deep rooted conspiracy by the ruling BJP to capture power of the tribal council by backdoor but it was foiled by elected CPI(M) members of the TTAADC. The letter was fake", Debbarma said in the presence of the 23 elected members.

Tripura unit BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharya said the BJP is not involved with this move.

"It is a false charge that the BJP hatched any conspiracy. The BJP is not involved with this move. But it is true that the support base of CPI-M has eroded considerably in the tribal dominated areas of the state and people are joining BJP from CPI(M) due to their anti-people activity", Bhattacharya said.

Debbaram alleged that two members of the council - Pati Ram Tripura and Joykishore Jamatia - had forged the letter and submitted it to the Governor seeking no-confidence motion against the present council.

He further alleged that they also tried to lure the other members saying that their salaries and pensions would be hiked.

"As we are united there is no question of no- confidence motion and if such situation arises in the coming days, we will act as per the situation", Debbarma said.

On Monday night Prati Ram Tripura had claimed that majority of the TTAADC members have served a notice for bringing a no-confidence motion against the Left-run executive committee of the council, accusing it of failing to "fulfil the basic needs of the people".

All the 28 members of the tribal council were elected on Left Front tickets in the elections held in 2015.

However, one member, Joykishore Debbarma, quit CPI(M) before the Assembly elections held last year and joined the BJP, which is in power in Tripura.

Meanwhile, the CPI(M) in a press statement termed the serving of the no-confidence notice as a "conspiracy hatched by the ruling BJP to grab the tribal council through the back door".

"There is no reason to express no confidence against the tribal council. The BJP-led government was depriving the council financially as it is run by the Left Front," the statement said.

The TTAADC constitutes two-thirds of Tripura's territory and is home to tribals, who form one-third of the state's estimated 40 lakh population.

The TTAADC came into being in 1979 under the provisions of the seventh schedule of the Constitution and was later brought under the sixth schedule.