'My Last Speech On Political Stage': Why Tipra Motha Founder And Royal Scion Pradyot Deb Barma Sounded Disheartened On The Eve Of Polls In Tripura

The suave and usually unflappable scion of Tripura’s erstwhile royal family, Pradyot Manikya Bikram Deb Barma, ended his campaigning for the Assembly elections in the state Tuesday (14 February) on a heavy note. 

Pradyot, 45, had campaigned vigorously for the Tipra Motha party that he founded in February 2021. Though the Motha had fielded candidates from 42 of the state’s 60 Assembly seats, Pradyot has steadfastly refused to throw his hat in the ring and contest the polls as a candidate. 

Addressing his last poll rally at Charilam--a seat reserved for tribals--in the state’s Sipahijala district late Tuesday afternoon, Pradyot said it would be his last election rally ever. He announced he would quit politics after the Assembly elections and never seek votes as ‘Bubagra’ (as the tribals of Tripura call their king). 

Pradyot, who enjoys wide popularity among the tribals, especially the Tripuris who constitute over 50 per cent of the total population of tribals in the state, said that he felt disheartened that many leaders have deserted him.

He said that those who have left him “have not understood my feelings for putting up a fight to protect the rights of poor people who do not have access to food, shelter and education”. 

Pradyot’s speech triggered confusion within the Motha and has caused widespread dismay among his supporters and admirers. He had, after all, sold them the dream of ‘Greater Tipraland’--a state comprising the tribal-inhabited areas of Tripura, Assam and Mizoram as well as the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh. 

The royal scion’s sudden announcement at the end of the election campaign was not, however, completely unexpected. Though he had been drawing huge crowds in the tribal belt, he became well aware of the fact that not all those fawning crowds would automatically translate into votes for his party. 

That’s because the BJP, through its 360-degree campaign in the state, had sowed enough doubts in the minds of the tribals, especially the non-Tripuris among them, about the impracticality of the ‘Greater Tipraland’ dream. 

The saffron party also accused the Motha of being a surrogate of the CPI(M) and working at the behest of the communists to wean away tribals from the BJP and its ally, the IPFT. 

These allegations gained a lot of credibility after people realised that the Motha had fielded weak candidates against the Left-Congress alliance. A whisper campaign against the royal scion and his party gained ground after he deputed a delegation for talks with the Union Home Ministry and some central BJP leaders. 

Those talks broke down after Pradyot insisted on a written commitment from the Union Government for a ‘Constitutional solution’ to the separate state issue. He said that he would be game for an alliance with any party that would provide in writing its support for ‘Greater Tipraland’. 

Though no party met this demand, Pradyot trained his guns only on the BJP throughout his campaign. CPI(M) leader Jitendra Choudhury claimed that his party had an informal understanding with the Motha and a post-poll deal between the two is on the cards. 

Pradyot did not bother to refute this assertion by Choudhury, who is also the CPI(M)’s chief ministerial candidate. He remained ambiguous on his ties with the CPI(M) or the Congress. 

The only party he pilloried was the BJP; he accused the saffron party of discriminating against the tribals, doing nothing for the welfare of the tribals and reneging on the promises it made for accelerating development of tribal areas of the state in the run up to the 2018 Assembly elections. 

At the same time, he never blamed the Congress and the CPI(M) for the sorry state of tribals in Tripura. 

That’s because it would have been difficult for him to do so. Pradyot was in leadership roles in the Congress till mid-2019 and his father, Maharaja Kirit Bikram Kishore Deb Barma, was a three-time Congress MP. His mother, Bihu Kumari, was a two-time Congress MLA who served as the revenue minister of the state. 

Pradyot became the president of the state unit of the Congress in February 2019, but fell out with the party over some issues. He then formed the Tipra Motha, allegedly with covert support from the CPI(M). 

Shanti Deb Barma, the aide, pointed out that all these factors--Pradyot’s failure to criticise the Left for its misrule, his constant criticism of only the BJP, his refusal to contest the elections and his dogged refusal to scotch speculation about a post-poll deal with the Left--made many tribals suspicious of the Motha. 

It is pertinent that Pradyot chose Charilam to end his poll campaign. Jishnu Deb Barma is the BJP candidate from Charilam. The Motha has fielded Subodh Deb Barma from Charilam and the Congress candidate is Ashok Deb Barma. 

In his last campaign rally, Pradyot chose to blame his distant relative (Jishnu Deb Barma) for the plight of the tribals. “If Pradyot is to be believed, the tribals were all well-off with excellent access to health and education, and had jobs and other livelihood opportunities, till five years ago before the BJP came to power. But people are not fools and realise that he (Pradyot) is not blaming the Congress and the Left for a reason,” said Kiriti Deb Barma, a social worker at Charilam. 

Blaming the Congress for not doing much for the tribals of Tripura when it was in power in the state would have amounted to blaming his parents and his parent party. Pradyot has, time and again, spoken in glowing terms about the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, including Rahul who he openly admires. 

He also cannot criticise the Left because, say his many critics, he has been propped up by the Left. The CPI(M)’s calculation, say many political observers in Tripura, was that a party led by the charismatic royal scion would seriously damage popular support for the BJP-IPFT combine among the tribals who decide the electoral outcome in as any as 24 seats, including the 20 seats reserved for the tribals. 

The BJP’s campaign accusing the Motha of being a proxy of the Left and of being ready to give up its ‘Greater Tipraland’ demand to ink a post-poll deal with the Left-Congress combine has resonated among sections of the tribals. 

What dealt a major blow to the Motha was Prime Minister Modi’s successful meeting with tribal leaders in Agartala Monday (13 February). Modi met influential social and religious leaders of many tribal communities and outlined the various welfare measures rolled out specifically for tribals across the country.

Modi also promised more development of tribal areas in the state and said a few plans meant exclusively for accelerated development of tribal areas would be announced and implemented after the elections. 

A senior Tipura state BJP leader who was present at the meeting told Swarajya that the tribal leaders appeared happy with the meeting and were convinced that the BJP had the interests of the tribals at heart. Pleased with the outcome of the meeting, Modi even tweeted about it. 

The tribal community leaders who attended the meeting with Modi spread the word about their positive interaction with the Prime Minister and what the latter had told them. BJP’s tribal leaders also gave silent but wide publicity to the meeting. 

Word spread fast among the tribals about Monday’s crucial meeting. That reportedly unnerved Pradyot.

Hence, he made the emotional statement at Charilam that he would quit politics and the Charilam rally would be his last.

But it backfired and only created more doubts among his workers and supporters. That’s why he had to issue a hasty clarification Wednesday (15 February) that he had said he would only quit politics, but would never quit the Tipra Motha. “I will always remain with the Motha, but never ask for votes from a political manch. And I will work towards a constitutional solution for our people,” he said. 

But that clarification was not only  too little and too late, it again served to add to the confusion. What he meant by not seeking votes from a political platform confounded his supporters. And his vow to quit politics but remain active in the Motha, a political party, reeked of double standards. 

Pradyot Manikya Bikram Deb Barma has, it seems, has made a hash job of his design to harm the BJP and stall its return to power in the state. 

There is, however, no doubt that he has managed to capture the imagination of a large number of tribals, especially the Tripuri community that he belongs to. But admiration for him won’t translate into votes for the Motha. 

The Motha, say analysts, may end up winning ten to twelve seats, but it is doubtful if it would achieve its primary objective of preventing the BJP’s return to power in the state.