Agartala, Mar 16 (PTI) Chief Minister Manik Saha on Saturday said that Tipra Motha, which emerged as Tripura's main opposition party in the 2023 elections, joined his government as it realised that only Prime Minister Narendra Modi could ensure the development of the indigenous people.

Addressing a programme organised by the BJP Janajati Morcha at the Town Hall, he said the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) also joined hands with the BJP before the 2018 assembly polls keeping faith in the PM for the welfare of the tribal people.

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"After the IPFT, the Tipra Motha joined the BJP-led coalition realising that only PM Modi could ensure the development of the tribal people of Tripura. The state government is also working for the social-economic development of the indigenous people," he said.

Claiming that the BJP will win both Lok Sabha seats in the state, Saha said various initiatives have been undertaken for the welfare of the indigenous people.

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"The government has already sent a proposal to convert the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) into Tripura Territorial Council, with an increase in the number of seats from 28 to 50 to ensure representation of all the 19 tribes," he said.

The TTAADC budget has been increased from Rs 619.26 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 650.94 crore in 2023-24, he said, adding that the outlay of the tribal sub-plan has also been enhanced from Rs 4,720 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 5,608 crore in 2023-24.

Claiming that the Left Front saw the tribals as a vote bank, Saha said the socio-economic-cultural life of the tribal people has changed after the BJP came to power in the state in 2018.

"Almost all the tribal-dominated blocks have been identified as aspirational to intensify development works. Expenditure of additional 10 per cent funds of the total outlay of any scheme or project has been made mandatory in these aspirational blocks," he said.

The BJP's candidate for the West Tripura Lok Sabha seat Biplab Kumar Deb and its East Tripura candidate Kriti Singh Debbarma, who is the sister of Tipra Motha founder Pradyot Debbarma, were present at the programme.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)