Agartala: Tipra Motha Party (TMP) chief Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma on Sunday expressed optimism that Union Home Minister Amit Shah would soon offer a lasting resolution to the long-pending Tiprasa issue.
Speaking at a party event at Rabindra Bhavan, Debbarma said he holds “immense respect” for Shah and trusts that the Home Minister will fulfil his commitment to address the aspirations of the indigenous Tiprasa community.
The TMP had earlier inked a tripartite agreement with the Centre and the Tripura government in March 2024, aimed at ensuring comprehensive development for the Tiprasa people. The agreement was signed in New Delhi in the presence of Amit Shah.
Clarifying political rumours, Debbarma stated that the alliance between TMP and BJP was finalised in New Delhi, not at the state level. He urged party workers and the public to disregard “baseless rumours,” warning that misinformation “serves no purpose.”
Taking a jibe at the BJP, Debbarma mocked the party’s recent claims of large-scale tribal enrolment. “They said 6,400 voters each joined the BJP at Mungiakmaki in Khowai and Takarjala in West Tripura, with another 339 joining later. If this continues, the Tiprasa population will reach 1.5 crore in three to four months,” he quipped.
With Tripura’s tribal population currently estimated at 14 lakh, Debbarma remarked, “I don’t blame them for inflating numbers. They have to show something to Delhi to prove their base in tribal areas has expanded. Hence, they say there’s no need to continue the alliance with Tipra Motha.”
He also criticised the state government for the delay in conducting elections to the village committees under the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), noting that democratic polls in tribal regions have been “pending for a decade.”
Expressing his disappointment over another issue, Debbarma said it was “disheartening” that Rajmata Bhibu Kumari Devi, wife of the late Kirit Bikram Kishore Manikya, was not invited to the inauguration of the redeveloped Maa Tripureswari temple by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 22.
