Supporters of ruling allies BJP, IPFT clash in Tripura

Two months after the BJP-IPFT government came to power in Tripura, supporters of the two allies clashed in Dhalai district over demand for a separate tribal state, leaving eight persons injured, police said today.

The Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), which had launched a movement demanding a separate Twipraland state for the tribals earlier, formed a pre-poll coalition with the BJP.

The saffron party had claimed at that time that the IPFT would not raise the demand for a separate state.

The clash occurred at the Chailengta market in Dhalai district, about 106 km from here, yesterday after BJP supporters tried to stop a procession of the IPFT demanding a separate land for the tribals, Superintendent of Police Sudipta Das said.

"Following the altercation, a clash ensued and eight persons were injured. Of them, three were admitted to the primary health centres at Chailengta and one was shifted to the Gobinda Ballav Panth hospital in Agartala," Das said.

In an effort to normalise the situation, senior leaders of the two ruling parties held a meeting and a five-member coordination committee was formed, BJP vice-president Pratima Bhowmik said.

"We do not have any conflict among the BJP and the IPFT. A section of CPI(M) infiltrated into the IPFT and they were trying to create unrest and disturb the ruling alliance," Bhowmik said.

CPI(M) central committee member Jitendra Chaudhury denied the allegations saying the BJP was trying to divert attention from the real issue.

"They (BJP leaders) have no control on their cadres. This is a shameless expression to cover their failure," he said.

The BJP-IPFT combine had on March 3 scripted history by winning the state Assembly polls with two-third majority, ending 25 years of uninterrupted rule of the CPI(M)-led Left Front in the state.

In the 60-member Tripura Assembly, the BJP has 36 legislators, the IPFT eight and the CPI(M) 16.

The IPFT has two ministers in the Cabinet and the party has demanded one more berth.

IPFT vice-president Ananta Debbarma had said last month the party cannot just turn away from the "Twipraland" demand that had emerged in the state in the late 1990s over the issue of backwardness of the tribal people, living mainly in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC).