The rift in the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) of the northeastern state of Tripura has become increasingly visible.

Senior leaders of the two ruling allies — the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and TIPRA Motha — have been busy criticising each other for the past few months. From the BJP, it is the Chief Minister Manik Saha who himself has been strongly attacking ally Motha and its leader Pradyot Debbarma, albeit without naming them directly.

On the other hand, Pradyot also loses no opportunity to target the BJP, particularly the state leadership.

This political tension has spilled onto the streets, with clashes between workers of the two allies becoming frequent. This certainly is creating a negative image about the government.

The NDA in the state comprises three constituents. BJP, the largest constituent, has 32 legislators; Motha, the dominant party in the hills, has 13. The third one is the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT), another party in the hills currently reduced to a weak force within the alliance with only a sole legislator. Of the 11 cabinet ministers, the BJP has 9, while Motha and IPFT have one representative each. In addition to this, Motha has one minister of state.

It is worth recalling that TIPRA Motha indirectly helped the BJP in the last 2023 state assembly polls by dividing the anti-BJP votes strategically. A year later, Motha officially joined the state NDA........

© News18