BJP ally TIPRA Motha demands voter roll revision in Tripura

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s ally in Tripura, TIPRA Motha, met Election Commission officials in New Delhi on Wednesday to demand a special intensive revision of the state’s electoral rolls, similar to the exercise underway in Bihar, The Hindu reported.

A delegation led by party founder Pradyot Debbarma urged the commission to conduct a detailed survey to identify undocumented migrants allegedly included in the rolls.

“Tripura and the entire North East would suffer if we stayed silent on the infiltration of foreigners,” The Hindu quoted Debbarma as saying.

On Wednesday evening, the TIPRA Motha chief said on social media that if the concern was not addressed, Tripura “will become Assam before long”.

He said: “I am not against citizens of any religion. My single thought is that if illegal people from Bangladesh or Myanmar keep on coming to Tripura and become legal Indians, get Aadhaar card, become MLAs even, get government facilities, whose loss is it?”

Tribal communities make up around 30% to 33% of Tripura’s population. Of the state’s 60 Assembly seats, 20 are reserved for Scheduled Tribes. The autonomous district council governing tribal areas has a 95% reservation for the Scheduled Tribe communities.

TIPRA Motha’s demand came a week after the BJP-led government in the state formed district-level task forces to identify and deport undocumented migrants, The Indian Express reported.

Chief Minister Manik Saha said that...

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