Motha wave in tribal areas drowns BJP’s ally IPFT in Tripura

Thesea change in Tripura compared to five years ago is in the 20 seats reserved for tribals in the state. The emergence of Tipra Motha has completely changed equations in these parts. The fledgling party won 13 of the 20 seats and polled 44. 5% of the votes, almost as much as the two rival combines put together.In 2018, BJP-IPFT combine had swept the 19 tribal seats in which elections were held at the time, BJP winning nine of the 10 it contested and IPFT eight of its nine, a total of 17 for the alliance. The saffron party’s vote share of 27. 2% and its ally’s 24. 5% gave the combine over half the votes polled in these seats. Five years on, BJP-IPFT tally of seats is down to seven and the vote share to 28. 3%. Most of the erosion has been in IPFT’s share, though part of that is also because BJP contested more seats (15) this time.Motha’s emergence has hitthe Left even harder. Even accounting for the fact that it had to leave two seats for Congress to contest, the drop in vote share from 42% to 19. 9% is precipitous. Congress continues to have virtually no presence in the tribal areas of the state.