Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA Motha) Chief Pradyot Kishore Debbarma. File. | Photo credit: ANI
Tipra Motha Party (TMP) supremo Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma on Saturday (March 14, 2026) alleged that a conspiracy was hatched to break his party ahead of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) elections.
Mr. Debbarma’s allegations came amid rumors doing rounds in the state that a section of TMP legislators, including a minister, would join the BJP ahead of the TTAADC elections.
Tipra Motha has 13 MLAs in the 60-member Tripura Assembly and two of its legislators are also ministers in the Manik Saha government.
Chief Minister Manik Saha on Thursday said reports of TMP MLA and Forest Minister Animesh Debbarma joining the BJP were rumours.
Addressing a party program at Khumulwng in West Tripura, Mr. Debbarma said that he has been fighting for the rights of the people of Tiprasa for the past two years.
Without naming any leader, he said, “There have been reports of attempts to split the party, but the plot was actually hatched to break Bubagra (the king). Those who tried will get a befitting reply at the appropriate time.” Stressing the need to be united, Debbarma claimed that attempts would be made to divide the natives along Hindu-Christian or Tripuri (community), Reanga or Moga lines to win elections.
Mr. Debbarma said that the TMP will announce the list of candidates for the TTAADC elections within five minutes after the BJP announces its candidates, so they (BJP) cannot pick any TMP leaders.
The TMP supremo also urged the tribal party leaders not to fight among the tribal people in the elections.
“In the 2021 TTAADC elections, TMP had to fight against the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), for which the Tiprasa (tribal) community had to suffer. This time a battle is set between BJP and TMP. We all must ensure that there is no electoral battle in the Tiprasa community,” he said.
Referring to Chief Minister Manik Sah’s announcement that the BJP is contesting all 28 seats in the Tribal Council in some recent rallies, Debbarma said the TMP is ready to fight the BJP in all the seats.
“We have not violated the electoral arrangement with the BJP, but if the chief minister makes a challenge, we will accept it wholeheartedly. I hope the chief minister will not back down later,” he said.
Published – 15 March 2026 04:54 IST
