New Delhi: Following the Congress in Tripura appointing Maharani Bibhu Kumari Devi among its executive committee members during its state leadership rejig over the weekend, the Rajmata, as she is known, has written to her son claiming she “isn’t interested in the Congress party”.
In the letter dated 26 September and addressed to Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma, the royal family head said: “I am surprised to learn from you that the state Congress party leadership has given me appointment in the state PCC. I have not been in active politics since the last 12 years.”
“I have no interest in Congress, kindly inform the Congress Party that I am not in politics at the moment and to not use my name in any political campaign so that people don’t get misguided,” the former parliamentarian added. ThePrint has a copy of the letter.
The letter came amid the high political drama in the Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee as the party prepares for the state polls, due to take place in 2023.
Senior Congress leader and former minister Birajit Sinha Friday was appointed the new state president by party chief Sonia Gandhi, replacing Pijush Kanti Biswas.
Biswas, who was appointed last December, had announced he was retiring from politics earlier in August, alleging there was a lack of support from party colleagues. He, however, had withdrawn his resignation within hours after meeting with the acting state president Dr Ajoy Kumar.
The Congress also appointed five more working presidents for the Tripura unit. Rajmata Devi, former chief minister Samir Ranjan Barman, former state party president Gopal Roy and several other MLAs were appointed executive committee members of the Tripura PCC.
Pradyot Debbarma, who shared the letter Sunday, is a former Congress member and state chief himself. He broke away from the Congress to form the Tipraha Indigenous People’s Regional Alliance (TIPRA) in 2019.
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‘Congress at its lowest, broken mentally & physically’
In the one-page letter, Rajmata Devi criticised the national party’s current position, saying, “The present issues that have beleaguered the Congress party today were there even before. Unfortunately the party is at its lowest. Broken mentally and physically. The moral of its workers and leadership doesn’t exist on the ground. Our country requires a corruption-free democracy which is committed to national security.”
She also called out the party for its “failure to recognise an intensified consciousness of the masses”.
“Congress unfortunately is weakened due to its failure to recognise an intensified consciousness of the masses in almost most states of the northeast and elsewhere … Vote bank politics of caste ethnicity and appeasement in different regions have divided and encouraged the policy of divide and rule. It’s a time for reflection,” she said.
(Edited by Manasa Mohan)
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