Indigenous People's Front of Tripura | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | IPFT |
| Secretary | Prem Kumar Reang |
| Spokesperson | Amit Debbarma[1] |
| Founder | |
| Headquarters | Old Kali Bari Road, Krishnanagar, Agartala - 799100Tripura |
| Youth wing | Youth IPFT |
| Ideology | Tripuri nationalism Regionalism Anti-immigration Anti-communism |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| Colours | Dark green |
| ECI Status | Regional party |
| Alliance | NDA (2018-Present) |
| Seats in Tripura Legislative Assembly | 1 / 60 |
| Election symbol | |
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| Party flag | |
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TheIndigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) is a regionalpolitical party inTripura, India.[2] It is a member of theNational Democratic Alliance andNorth-East Democratic Alliance. The party was merged into theIndigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) in 2001, however diverged out in 2009. The party allied with theBJP in the2018 Tripura Legislative Assembly election and won all eight seats it contested and got 7.5% of the total votes polled. The BJP got 36 seats and with a total of 44 seats the BJP-IPFT coalition had two-thirds majority in the Legislative Assembly.[3] In2023 Tripura Legislative Assembly election, despite the BJP securing a majority, IPFT won 1 seat out of the 6 it contested and secured 1.26% of the total vote share. It's only elected mla was inducted in theSecond Saha ministry.
The IPFT made its political breakthrough in the 2000Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) elections. The militant separatist organizationNational Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) had declared that it would only allow the IPFT to contest the election; in light of a series of assassinations, death threats, and kidnappings, only theLeft Front and the IPFT participated. The IPFT ended up winning 17 out of 28 seats, taking a majority on the TTAADC.[4]
TheTripura National Volunteers (TNV), aTripuri nationalistmilitant group, supported the IPFT in the 2000 elections. In 2001, after pressure from the NLFT, the TNV merged with the IPFT. In 2002, theIndigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) was formed as a merger of the IPFT and theTripura Upajati Juba Samiti (TUJS).[5]
The newly formed INPT formed an alliance with theIndian National Congress for the 2003Tripura Legislative Assembly election, in which the INPT won six assembly seats.
After the 2003 assembly election, six District Councilors split away from the INPT to form theNational Socialist Party of Tripura (NSPT), under the leadership of Hirendra Tripura and Budhu Kumar Debbarma. The NSPT formed a coalition government in the TTAADC in partnership with the communistCPIM party. Following this, more INPT leaders defected, leaving to join the Indian National Congress.
In 2005, another youth leader and INPT MLAAnimesh Debbarma left the party to form theNational Conference of Tripura (NCT).
Before the 2009 Lok Sabha election, some INPT leaders decided to revive the IPFT party under the leadership of former All India Radio Director N.C Debbarma. The main demand of the IPFT is the formation of "Tipraland", a state within the TTAADC, under articles 2 and 3 of the Indian Constitution.
The IPFT contested both of the Loksabha seats of Tripura in 2009, but received very few votes. It also contested 21 out of 28 ADC seats in the 2010Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council election, but only received a total of 2,216 votes.
The IPFT also failed to gain a majority in the 2013 Tripura assembly elections, receiving 11,234 votes in 17 contested seats. Following these elections, IPFT leader Patal Kanya Jamatia left and joined the INPT, ultimately leaving again to form theTripura Peoples Front (TPF).[citation needed]
In the 2015 ADC elections, the IPFT contested 27 of the 28 seats. Despite securing the second-highest number of votes at 115,252, the IPFT was unable to gain a single seat. The IPFT split again following these elections, with some members like Retd. TCS officer C.R Debbarma and Rangchak Kwthang leaving to form theTipraland State Party (TSP). The party was further weakened after some prominent IPFT youth leaders, including David Murasing and Pabitra Jamatia, left the party to join the current ruling partyBharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party in power nationally in India, on 11 December 2016, but David Murasing ultimately leaving again BJP on 16 August 2017 to form Twipra Dophani Sikla Srwngnai Motha (TDSSM).[citation needed]
The five factions emerged out of IPFT are as follows:
