Pradyot steps down as TIPRA Motha chief, continues to target BJP’s ‘divisive tactics’

Speaking at the valedictory session of the two-day plenary meeting at Khumulwng, headquarters of the Tripura ADC, Pradyot said thansa (unity in Kokborok) would not be achieved with big speeches but by standing together at times of need, even when challenges come from all sides. Political watchers feel his comments were an oblique reference to some party leaders who are believed to be against Pradyot’s stand of not joining the BJP in the state government.

“Thansa will not happen by speeches alone. The party system has to be explained to people. Our party Constitution has been made today. The pyramid structure has to be put in force with a bottoms-up approach, not a top-to-bottom one. We shall organise committees in blocks and districts with President, vice president, general secretary, and organisational secretary posts. We also need to prepare for ADC village committee elections,” he said.

In sharp jibes at the Congress, the BJP and other regional parties, Pradyot said, “Regional parties like the NCP, RJD, Shiv Sena, Samajwadi Party put their own families over politics. There is dynastic politics in the Congress and the BJP. My aunt Vasundhara Raje was the Chief Minister of Rajasthan and now my cousin Jyotiraditya Scindia is there (in the central government). Shivraj Singh Chauhan’s son is in politics. There is dynasty politics in Congress too.”

Citing his Motha history, Pradyot said he didn’t promote his own family, promoting common tribals instead. He also vented a lot of frustration at Motha leaders and supporters and said mistakes had been made. “The biggest mistake is that tribals think about themselves first and the community later. Nobody thinks about the community, they think about themselves. First, they think about themselves, then their villages, their surnames (community) and after they get danda (stick) they think about tribals. My education was in Shillong. When any tribal came to meet me in Shillong, I didn’t ask who was from Debbarma or Reang or Jamatia community. Now, I have realised the problem is in our thinking.”

He said the party was not important and said he fought for the security and future of tribals even when he was the sitting president of the Congress in Tripura. “I resigned over NRC and CAA and showed my honesty to tribals. But I see people leave parties when they don’t get an MDC ticket or don’t become ministers. I have done a mistake. This problem isn’t Motha’s. It is of tribals as a whole,” Pradyot said.

He said Motha president and former MLA Bijoy Kumar Hrangkhawl would lead the party and said the party would continue as per provisions of its newly adopted Constitution.

Pradyot clarified his stand as he trained his guns at the BJP, saying he would continue to refuse any compromise with the BJP’s “divisive tactics” and would continue his fight for the interest of tribals over rights of language, script, religion, autonomy and other issues.

A veteran political watcher said, “It remains to be seen whether Pradyot will be pressured to retain his post and in any case, he will remain as a mentor. I feel he will continue to wield as much power as he has now. This decision is essentially a retreat from the politics of brinkmanship. It remains to be seen whether Pradyot sticks to his decision. If he does step down, things will become complicated. Some MLAs are keen to join the government and become ministers. Motha will ultimately go with BJP in Parliament elections.”

The comments also get some legitimacy in Pradyot’s own words as he said he needed to step away from the party’s chairmanship since he wanted to focus on broader issues, but maintained that his authority would prevail in settling any unresolved issues within the party.

The current head of Tripura’s erstwhile royal Manikya dynasty, Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma entered politics by joining the Youth Congress and became the party’s state president in 2019 – a position he continued in for nine months before he resigned over the NRC revision and Citizenship Amendment Act, which he said were discriminatory to tribals. A graduate of History from Shillong, Pradyot has always been keen on giving history lessons in his party meetings.

He floated TIPRA Motha with the demand of a separate Greater Tipraland state for tribals of the state who, the party alleged, were left underdeveloped under different political regimes since the state’s merger with the Union of India in 1949. The party’s core demand, however, underwent a series of changes in the subsequent years and before the Assembly elections this year, it had already redefined its stand, saying Greater Tipraland would mean an autonomous state within the state of Tripura as per the Constitution of India, albeit with a host of steps like direct funding from the Centre which were said to empower tribal development.