Pradyot criticises Cong MLA for mocking ‘Greater Tipraland’ demand

Agartala: Tipra Motha supremo Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma on Tuesday criticised Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman for mocking the regional party’s demand for ‘greater Tipraland’ ahead of the Assembly elections.

The Tripura Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance or TIPRA Motha, a regional political party led by royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarma, seeks a ‘greater Tipraland’, a separate state for the indigenous people of Tripura.

However, Pradyot, who has emerged a popular tribal leader of the poll bound state, has not named Roy Barman.

“Never uttered a word against @Priyankagandhi or @RahulGandhi yet the local @INCTripura mocks our rightful demand. State congress is a champion on self destruction. Don’t mock the emotions of the indigenous ppl or you will get a befitting reply. We know our constitutional rights”, Debbarma tweeted in an indirect reference to Roy Barman’s speech in a Congress rally at Karamcherra in Dhalai district on Monday.

Roy Barman, the Congress’s lone legislator in the 60-member Assembly has lashed out at regional tribal parties for playing with the emotions of indigenous people before elections.

He went on to say, “one party had raised the slogan of Tipraland before the 2018 Assembly election and won eight seats and now another has raised a new slogan – Greater Tipraland, a demand raised by Tipra Motha.”

Tipra Motha has become a strong force in 20 ST reserved Assembly constituencies in the 60-member state Assembly after winning the elections to Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) in 2021.

Besides, there are five to eight constituencies in which tribal voters are a deciding factor.

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