Agartala, Dec 21 : Tipra Motha Party (TMP) supremo Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma on Sunday said his party would contest the elections to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) alone if the Tiprasa accord is not implemented.
TMP, a BJP ally, signed an agreement with the Centre and the state government in March 2024 for overall development of the indigenous people.
In the 2021 TTADC elections, the BJP had to concede defeat at the hands of the TMP, then a newly formed regional party.
“What is there to say when Chief Minister Manik Saha himself has announced that the BJP will win all 28 seats of the tribal council. If the Tiprasa Accord is not implemented, we will fight the election alone because I cannot fool my people,” Debbarma told reporters.
Claiming that the Centre was willing to implement the accord, the TMP chief said certain leaders in the state appeared to be opposed to its implementation.
Debbarma also made it clear that the party would not compromise on the issue of the script for Kokborok, the mother tongue of most tribal communities in Tripura.
Referring to the fallout of attempts to impose Urdu in the then East Pakistan, he said the choice of script for Kokborok was an internal matter and no one could dictate it to the Tiprasa people.
“The Centre and the state government must respect the sentiments of the indigenous people regarding the selection of the Kokborok script. We will not change our stand. This is our internal issue,” he said.
On Bangladesh’s turmoil situation, Debbarma said the Centre and the state government must adopt a clear policy for the Northeast because fundamentalists are active across the border.
“Minorities, especially indigenous tribes, are being oppressed in Bangladesh. Radical forces are threatening to provide shelter to anti-Indian forces in Bangladesh. A nationalist party can’t remain a silent spectator in the volatile situation”, he said. (PTI)
