Agartala, Oct 6 (PTI) Tipra Motha Party supremo Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma on Tuesday announced that he would quit active politics after next month, citing health reasons, but said he would remain a “conscious keeper” of the Tiprasa people and speak up whenever injustice was meted out to them.
The remarks came as the NDA won 4,320 of the 4,594 seats in the elections to 587 village committees of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), with the TMP alone securing 4,328 seats. The BJP won 859 seats and its ally the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) 33.
Earlier in the day, he said the Centre should “honour” its commitment to the indigenous people of Tripura and begin implementing the Tiprasa Accord, which the TMP had signed with the Union and the state government in March 2024 for the overall development of indigenous people.
“During a meeting in Delhi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had assured us in the presence of Chief Minister Manik Saha that the implementation of the Tiprasa Accord will start after Durga Puja. We hope the Centre will honour the commitment given to the people of tribal areas,” Debbarma said.
“If commitment is not honoured, how can I go to the people again (in the 2028 Assembly elections)? They have waited patiently for a long time to get the accord implemented to solve their genuine problems.”
Later, in a Facebook post, he said, “I will not remain in active politics after next month because of health issues. My father Maharaja Kirit Bikram Manikya Bahadur used to say leave when you are on the top not on the way down. I had no intention of joining politics, but I did so after realising that a fight was required for my Tiprasa people”.
Debbarma called upon the party workers to organise a mega rally next month and invite all chairpersons of the village committees, for him to address them from a political platform one last time.
“Although my political journey will end after next month, I will continue to remain with Tiprasa people as a conscious keeper and speak whenever any injustice is mooted to them. I also appeal to the party not to celebrate the victory in Village Committee elections because the constitutional rights are yet to be gained,” he said.
He thanked people for TMC’s victory in the village committee elections. “Now they will enjoy power in their villages, which had not been possible for the past 10 years because of the lack of elected bodies.”
Debbarma said he took up the issue of holding the village committee elections with the Tripura High Court and later moved the Supreme Court. “I am really thankful to the Supreme Court for directing the State Election Commission to hold village committee elections, and it has finally taken place after 10 years.”
The TMP founder said the time had now come to begin implementing the Tiprasa accord, honouring the commitment made by the Centre to the indigenous people of the tribal council.
Debbarma also made it clear that he was against any disruption of communal harmony in the northeastern state in the larger interest of its people.
“We are not speaking against any community residing in our small state, but legitimate rights, including land rights, must be protected for the indigenous people in tribal council areas, which is ensured in other Sixth Schedule areas in the Northeast,” he said.
The TTAADC, governed by the TMP, comprises nearly two-thirds of the geographical area of Tripura. PTI PS NSD
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