Agartala: The political relations between opposition Congress and royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarman-led TIPRA seems to be under strain.
In an oblique reference to TIPRA, former minister and Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman on Monday claimed that regional parties in Tripura had been playing with the emotions of indigenous people of the state.
He said, “We are witnesses to the rise and fall of a lot of political parties that include, TUJS, INPT, NSPT, Tripura Hills People’s Party and many more. Every time these parties come up with a new slogan, tribal voters get swayed by the emotions. All these years, people of the hills have been used as vote banks. Congress stands differently. We want politics to be done on real issues.”
The Congress leader was addressing a party meeting at the Karamcherra Assembly constituency from where his close aide DC Hrangkwal was elected. Hrangkhwal recently returned to Congress after deserting the BJP.
Citing the dire condition of health, education and other basic amenities in the Hills, Barman said, “Even after so many years of independence, people in Hills are deprived of the basics. Water scarcity gripped the far-flung hamlets, healthcare facilities are unavailable, and schools and colleges remained distant dreams. But, no one is there to raise these crucial issues. In a one-to-one conversation, I told a gentleman, we did not expect this from you. What IPFT did, you are heading in the same direction.”
The Congress leader skipped naming the leader to whom he was referring.
Lashing out at IPFT, Barman said, “IPFT raised the slogan of Tipraland. Now, another political party has modified it with the prefix Greater. Does Greater Tipraland assure solutions to all the problems that the people of Hill areas had been facing all these years? People gave the popular mandate to IPFT. Leaders like the late NC Debbarma and Mevar Kumar Jamatia got the opportunity to do something but what happened? They were all silent.”
EASTMOJO PREMIUM
Help sustain honest journalism.
Barman’s cryptic comments on TIPRA indicate that things are not going down well with the plan of a united political front. This is for the first time, any opposition leader that too of that stature took, an offensive jibe at Debbarman’s party.
Meanwhile, the Congress leader also welcomed over 700 candidates from different parties to the grand old party.  Â
Also Read | Bumrah ruled out of ODI series against Sri Lanka after back injury
