The hills of Tripura are set to hold elections for 587 village committees on 28 September, with results to be announced on 5 October. The vote will decide 4,597 seats across 2,634 constituencies, drawing in 962,000 voters—an increase from the 768,000 who cast ballots in the last election in 2016. The decade that has passed has seen a dramatic reshaping of the region’s political landscape, with the Left’s dominance eroded, Tipra Motha emerging as the main tribal force, and the BJP gaining a foothold in the hills.
The significance of the village committee elections extends beyond local governance. Tripura has 20 seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes in the state assembly, and any party hoping to control the state must secure the political pulse of the tribal electorate. In 2016 the Left Front won 520 of the 587 committees, but by 2018 its grassroots grip had collapsed, largely because the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) had turned the Tipraland movement into an electoral force, capturing a sizeable portion of the tribal vote. Today, Tipra Motha has inherited and expanded that space, while the BJP has been testing its ability to win votes independently and through alliances.
Central to the current political equation is the Thansa accord, a pact of unity that brought together fragmented tribal groups and former militant formations under the banner of Greater Tipraland. The agreement, signed in early 2024, has been revisited in talks between national leaders and tribal representatives, raising questions about whether the BJP can maintain the confidence of Tipra Motha’s supporters while also advancing its own agenda. The BJP’s engagement with both Tipra Motha and the IPFT adds complexity to an already fragile alliance structure.
Despite its mandate, Tipra Motha’s influence within the BJP‑led state government has been questioned. The party has struggled to translate promises of land rights, language recognition and greater autonomy into concrete outcomes, leading to frustration among voters who had seen it as a vehicle for indigenous aspirations. The village committee elections will therefore test whether the party can preserve the emotional trust that propelled it to victory.
Ultimately, the polls will reveal whether the hills still value a party that can articulate tribal identity or whether they are ready to shift their allegiance to a group that can deliver tangible gains. The outcome will shape the political direction of Tripura’s tribal constituencies and set the stage for the next state assembly contest.
