Tripura: 13 TIPRA MLAs take oath, Pradyot says Hindu Bengalis voted for BJP

Agartala, March 17: TIPRA Motha Supremo Pradyot Kishore Debbarman on Friday said that Hindu Bengalis have voted for the BJP in large numbers while Muslims voted prefered the CPIM and Congress. The tribal electors voted for TIPRA en masse.

"The poll surveys have found that three way division of votes helped the BJP retain power. The Hindu Bengalis have voted for the BJP and it's a fact. Similar was the pattern in West Bengal. The minority votes remain intact with the CPIM and Congress whole tribal voters preferring my party", Debbarman said explaining the voting patterns of electorates in the just concluded polls.

He was trying to dispel the allegations of being a B-team of the BJP, a tag his party had earned after BJP swept absolute majority in the just ended polls. Shortly after the swearing in ceremony of 13 TIPRA Motha MLAs in Tripura State Assembly, Debbarman said, "This is quite astonishing that some people try to blame us for the opposition's poor performance. None of the opposition political parties have taken an official stand against us. We have every right to fight wherever we want and we did it. In many seats our candidates fell short of majority votes because of other parties. Everyone has their right to fight the polls and this is beyond questioning".

The TIPRA Supremo also added that his party would take on the government both inside and outside the state assembly. "Our MLAs are educated. They are well informed and they will raise each of the issues which are important for the overall development of the state", he added. On being asked about his demand for Greater Tipraland, he said, "We have not compromised with our demand of Greater Tipraland. We want a constitutional solution for our people and hence we did not join the government. We don't want any position in the government, we want our people to get their rights".