Pradyot Debbarman rejects CM Manik Saha’s clean sweep claim in TTAADC polls, accuses BJP of money power politics, and asserts Tipra Motha’s decisive victory while reiterating the demand for tribal leadership in Tripura.
Tipra Motha Party founder and royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarman on Thursday firmly rejected Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha’s assertion that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was heading towards a clean sweep in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) elections. Calling the claim politically motivated and misleading, Debbarman maintained that Tipra Motha was well on course to secure a decisive mandate in the council polls.
Addressing a large gathering of party supporters at Kowaifang in South Tripura, Debbarman accused the ruling BJP of attempting to manufacture a narrative of inevitability ahead of the elections. According to him, such claims were aimed at influencing public perception rather than reflecting the political reality on the ground.
“The BJP is trying to generate noise to give an impression that it will capture power in the ADC. Ultimately, they will not be able to achieve anything,” Debbarman told the gathering. He added that Tipra Motha’s grassroots support across the tribal areas remained strong and resilient despite what he described as aggressive campaigning by the ruling party.
Debbarman also took strong exception to remarks allegedly made by Tribal Welfare Minister Bikash Debbarma at a public event. He said the comment was deeply insensitive and regrettable, particularly because no senior BJP leader had publicly distanced themselves from it. This silence, he argued, reflected the ruling party’s attitude towards tribal concerns and aspirations.
Stepping up his attack, the Tipra Motha leader linked the BJP’s confidence in the ADC elections to what he alleged was an overreliance on money power. He claimed that certain leaders within the ruling establishment had misled the state leadership by portraying the elections as an easy contest that could be won through financial muscle alone.
“They believe that spending money guarantees electoral success. This assumption is completely flawed,” Debbarman said, asserting that the people of the TTAADC were politically aware and capable of seeing through such tactics. He emphasized that elections could not be reduced to transactions and that dignity, identity, and long-standing grievances played a decisive role in tribal politics.
In a candid appeal to voters, Debbarman urged people not to feel intimidated or morally conflicted if inducements were offered during the campaign period. “If they offer money, take it. If they give clothes, risha or rignai, use them. But when you vote, remember which party has grown organically among the people and truly deserves the mandate,” he said, drawing loud applause from the crowd.
The statement underscored Tipra Motha’s attempt to position itself as a grassroots movement rooted in popular support rather than electoral opportunism. Debbarman reiterated that his party’s rise was the result of sustained engagement with tribal communities and their aspirations, not sudden political calculations.
Reaffirming his long-standing demand for greater tribal representation in Tripura’s power structure, Debbarman said Tipra Motha remained committed to ensuring leadership from within the tribal community at the highest levels of governance. He outlined an ambitious political roadmap, stating that the party aimed to consolidate power in the TTAADC by 2026 and go on to shape the state’s leadership in the years that followed.
“In 2026, we will come to power in the TTAADC, and in 2028, we will make a tribal leader the Chief Minister of Tripura,” he declared, framing the statement as both a political goal and a symbolic correction of historical marginalization.
Responding to criticism from a former BJP Member of Parliament, Debbarman clarified that decisions such as renaming the state’s airport after his grandfather were not acts of personal glorification but measures of historical recognition. He said such steps were intended to acknowledge the legacy and contributions of leaders who had shaped Tripura’s history.
Debbarman also defended various agreements and accords associated with tribal movements, stating that they were necessary to address decades of discrimination, neglect, and injustice faced by the Tiprasa people. According to him, these initiatives were about restoring dignity and ensuring constitutional safeguards, not about creating division.
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As campaigning for the TTAADC elections intensifies, Debbarman’s remarks highlight the sharpening political contest in Tripura’s tribal areas. With identity, representation, and governance emerging as central themes, the upcoming polls are widely seen as a crucial test of political narratives and grassroots strength in the state.
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