PRADYOT Kishore Debbarma, the scion of the erstwhile royal family of Tripura, launched a scathing attack on Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday following Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s charge against his party having a political understanding with the communists. Debbarma, the founder of Tipraha Regional Progressive Alliance (commonly known as the Tipra Motha), claimed that the BJP is the second fiddle to many regional parties in different parts of India.
Amit Shah was leading the Vijay Sankalp rally in the Santirbazaar area of Tripura when he claimed that the Tipra Motha has a tacit understanding with the Communists and Congress, who have formally allied against the ruling BJP for the upcoming Assembly polls.
"Earlier the Congress and Communists were fighting. This time, the Congress and Communists have come together and Tipra Motha is with them," Shah had said. Shah also warned the “adivasi brothers and sisters” that there are political forces who are making false promises to get their votes, referring to Tipra Motha’s promise of ‘Greater Tipraland’ - a separate state for the tribal population of Tripura and some regions of Bangladesh.
Recommended For You
Reacting to the Home Minister’s charge, Debbarma said that Tipra Motha is no one’s B-team.
"I would like to tell our country's home minister one thing. This Manikya clan does not bow down before anyone and is no one's B-Team. You took Maharaja Bir Bikram, my grandfather's name. You should understand Bir Bikram's grandson will not sell out his land, his people to anyone. We are no one's B-Team,” he said, as quoted by NDTV.
The popular tribal leader sought to project the BJP in the same light as Shah tried on Tipra Motha.
"The BJP is a B-Team in Nagaland. In Meghalaya, Shillong and Garo Hills, they are a B-Team of some other party. You're a B-Team of another party in Mizoram. In Tamil Nadu, you are the B-Team of the AIADMK. In Punjab, you are the B-Team of the Akali Dal. BJP is the B-team of many parties in India," he said, adding that Motha will not bow down or compromise.
Tipra Motha and its leader Pradyot Kishore Debbarma are the rising stars in Tripura politics, with the majority of the state’s tribal population seen to be consolidating behind them. The BJP had, in the previous election, allied with the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) and secured the tribal vote to defeat the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led government.
The entry of Debbarma’s Tipra Motha could dent the saffron camps prospects in the state. Tipra Motha won a handsome victory in the Tribal Areas District Council elections in 2021, winning 18 out of the 30 seats. The party is also seen as the strongest contender for the 20 tribal-reserved seats in Tripura.
(With agency inputs)