Tripura assembly elections: Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarman-led Tipra Motha makes impressive debut

NEW DELHI: The BJP-IPFT alliance is set to retain power in Tripura with leads in 32 out of 60 seats, as per the latest available trends.

The CPM-led Left alliance, which also included Congress, failed to dislodge the BJP in a state it ruled for over 25 years and settled with just 12 seats, accoridng to the trends.

Notably, the debutant TIPRA Motha, formed by royal scion Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarman, posted an impressive performance in the elections, hurting the poll prospects of both BJP and CPM.

But with BJP securing a majority on its own, the possibility of TIPRA Motha emerging as a kingmaker has been quashed for now.

Who is Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarman, the king who couldn't be kingmaker?
* Pradyot Manikya Debbarman is the current head of the Tripuri royal family and is the titular king.

* Born on July 4, 1978, Pradyot is the first son of Maharaja Kirit Bikram Kishore Debbarma, the 185th King of Tripura, and Maharani Bhibu Kumari Devi.

* He is the head of the Tipra Motha Party, also known as the Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance - a regional political party which was earlier a social organization. It contested 42 out of the 60 seats in the state in the 2023 elections.

* However, Debbarma’s political innings began a few years ago with the Congress. He resigned from the party in 2019 amid reports of differences with Congress's then general secretary and northeast in charge Luizinho Faleiro.

* Two years ago, the Tipra Motha had swept the TTAADC elections, in which it bagged 18 of the 30 seats in the Sixth Schedule body. Prior to that, the tribal council had been ruled by the Left, which along with the Congress and IPFT, failed to open its account in the April 2021 polls.

* The Tipra Motha's poll plank was ‘Greater Tipraland’, a separate state for Tripura’s indigenous people, who were reduced to minority due to uncontrolled influx from erstwhile East Bengal (Bangladesh). According to the 2011 census, Tripura’s population is 36.74 lakh, of which about one third (11.6 lakh) is tribal.

* Notably, the royal scion has received massive support from the tribals in the state for his fight for Greater Tipraland, which is almost similar to the demand of BJP's ally, the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT).

* The Tipra Motha was born amid the agitation against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act.