By Firstdespatch Desk Mar 02, 2023
Agartala, March 2 (FD) The supremo of the tribal based TIPRA Motha party and royal scion of Tripura’s Manikya family, Pradyot Kishore Debbarma, who had demanded for a separate greater Tipraland by carving out the Tripura Tribal Areas autonomous District Council (TTAADC) had in fact gambled his money by floating the party.
Debbarma, who is the Chairperson of the party, hails from the state's erstwhile Manikya dynasty was associated with the Congress party and also became the state chief of the grand old party and had resigned over differences on Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2019.
Two years later he floated - TIPRA Motha over the Greater Tipraland slogan and swept the tribal council elections in 2021. Greater Tipraland demand is basically an extension of the IPFT’s Tipraland demand, which sought a proposed state for tribals living in Tripura, parts of Mizoram, Assam and parts of Bangladesh.
Political analysts are of the view that he took the risk of gambling and spent his own money for floating the party and later in the February 16 elections as his party was not funded by any bigger party and it also did not forge any alliance with the ruling BJP or the opposition CPI-M despite repeated requests.
Party insiders said that he had even sold a portion of his ancestral properties in Kolkata a few months before the assembly elections for campaigning and other electoral expenses, but could not reap any political benefit.
“Brushing aside all speculations of a hung assembly in Tripura the ruling BJP in Tripura is going to form its second government in the north eastern state. Earlier notion was that TIPRA Motha would emerge as the king maker and it would bargain for its separate Tipraland demand, but now that possibility has abolished”, said Sandeep Dattachowdhury, a senior advocate and a prominent political analyst.
He said, it was some sorts of gambling by the royal scion, because he had to fund his own party personally and hardly could gather money from any outside source.
Greater Tipraland demand slogan is popular among the 19 tribal communities, who largely live in the tribal council areas and form one third of the state’s populations and have strong influence in 20 ST-reserved seats out of 60 seats in the state assembly.
TIPRA Motha contested in 42 seats including 20 tribal reserve seats out of 60 seats in the state and its Chief Debbarma (Pradyot) has asserted that nobody can form government in Tripura without TIPRA Motha.
Bijoy Hrankhawl, an insurgent turned politician, who once demanded free Tripura is the President of TIPRA Motha and fielded many ex-insurgents including Ranjit Debbarma, former Chief of all Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) as candidates in the Feb 16 elections.
“Fielding of ex-insurgents in the fray and vociferously demanding for separate state has largely polarised Bengali votes towards ruling BJP. Fielding of TIPRA Motha candidates in 22 general seats also cut the share of the opposition CPI(M), because the tribal voters in the general seats were largely supporters of CPI(M), but this time they voted for TIPRA Motha, which ultimately helped the BJP”, said Debasish Bhattacharjee, another political analyst. FD JK