Pradyot Debbarman to quit active politics after next month, cites health issues

Quoting his late father, Maharaja Kirit Bikram Manikya, he said, “Leave when you are on the top, not on the way down.”

A CORRESPONDENT

Agartala: Tipra Motha founder and royal scion Pradyot Bikram Kishore Debbarman announced that he will leave active politics but assured the Tiprasha people that he will always beside them whenever they will be in trouble.

The announcement came immediately after Tipra Motha's strong performance in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) village committee (VC) elections, where the party won 3,428 seats and secured a majority in 457 of the 587 village committees.

In a social media live, Pradyot said he had never planned to enter politics but joined after feeling that a political struggle was necessary for the Tiprasa people. 

He said he had decided to leave active politics after next month because of health issues. 

Quoting his late father, Maharaja Kirit Bikram Manikya, he said, "Leave when you are on the top, not on the way down."

However, Pradyot made it clear that leaving active politics would not mean withdrawing from the issues concerning the indigenous people of Tripura. 

"I will continue to remain with the Tiprasa people as a conscious keeper and speak whenever any injustice is meted out to them," he said.

He also asked party workers to organise a mega rally next month and invite the chairpersons of all village committees.  He said he wanted to address them from a political platform for the last time.

Pradyot also appealed to party workers not to celebrate the VC victory, saying the larger struggle was not over. 

He said the next priority should be implementation of the Tiprasa Accord and the commitments made by the Centre to the indigenous people of the TTAADC areas.

He recalled his efforts to get the village committee elections held, saying he had first approached the Tripura High Court and later the Supreme Court. 

He thanked the Supreme Court for directing the State Election Commission to conduct the elections after a gap of nearly 10 years.

The Motha founder also stressed the need to protect indigenous land rights in the tribal council areas. 

At the same time, he said he was against any attempt to disturb communal harmony in Tripura. 

"We are not speaking against any community residing in our small state," he said, while maintaining that the legitimate rights of indigenous people must be protected.

Pradyot's decision now marks a new phase for Motha. While he is set to leave active politics, he has indicated that he will continue to speak on issues affecting the Tiprasa community.

For Tripura's tribal areas, the immediate focus will be on how the party uses its new grassroots mandate and whether the political transition within Tipra Motha affects its campaign for constitutional and other rights of indigenous people.

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