Tripura: Pradyot Kishore threatens ‘fast unto death’ over Constitutional solution demand
Founder of TIPRA Motha Party (TMP), Pradyot Kishore, served an ultimatum to State and Central BJP governments and threatened to hold ‘fast unto death’ agitation from February 28 unless his demand for a ‘Constitutional solution’ for the indigenous people within 72 hours.
Deb Barman, who held a series of meetings with the Central government officials, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Tripura counterpart Manik Saha and senior BJP leaders for the part more than one year to fulfil the TMP's demand, said that he would soon announce the schedule of his fast unto death hunger strike.
"I am ready to die for the cause of the tribals. My only target is to resolve economic and constitutional problems of the tribals," the TMP leader told the media and accused the Central government of depriving the tribals of their Constitutional rights."
Deb Barman asked: "The Central leaders assured us to fulfil our demands. We trust them but nothing has been done yet. People in Delhi try to avoid us. The Jammu and Kashmir issue and creation of Telangana were taken up in a short time, so why is the Centre taking so much time about our demand?"
He said that his party (TMP) was neither with the BJP-led NDA or Congress-led INDIA bloc.
"Whichever party supports our demand ('Greater Tipraland'), we will support them. We do not want the tribals to remain poor and deprived from their due Constitutional rights," the TMP chief said.
Deb Barman on Friday night held a meeting with Tripura unit Congress President Asish Kumar Saha and senior Congress leader and MLA Sudip Roy Barman and discussed the current political situation in the state.
Deb Barman held a meeting with his party's senior leaders after meeting with Congress leaders. On Saturday, he announced his plan to launch a fast-unto-death agitation if the Central government did not accept TMP's demand.
According to some reports, the TMP was divided on its future political course of action with a section of the party leaders and MLAs having been pressing for joining the ruling BJP, and another faction keen to fight alone or join the anti-BJP front ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
Deb Barman and his senior party leaders recently held meetings in Agartala and Delhi with the Centre's envoy and advisor to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) A.K. Mishra and discussed various tribal-related issues.
He said that his party is sticking to its 'Greater Tipraland' demand and "Centre should fulfil our demand and they should come out clearly with their views about our demand".
The TMP's 'Greater Tipraland' demand, supported by the ruling BJP’s ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), has become a major issue in Tripura politics since 2021.
After the TMP wrested power in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) in April 2021, the party intensified their agitation in support of their demand, which has been strongly opposed by the BJP, CPI-M led Left Front, Congress and Trinamool Congress and other parties.
BJP's ally IPFT has also been demanding to upgrade the TTAADC as a full-fledged state.
The TTAADC, which has a jurisdiction over two-thirds of Tripura's 10,491 sq km area, and is home to over 12,16,000 people, of which around 84 per cent are tribals, is, in terms of its political significance, the second most important constitutional body after the Tripura Assembly.
The TMP, in its maiden electoral battle, fielded 42 candidates in 2023 Assembly polls, including 20 on tribal reserved seats and bagged 13 seats and 19.69 per cent votes as it highlighted its demand for 'Greater Tipraland State' or a separate state.
After the February 16 (2023) assembly polls, the TMP became the second single-largest party and got the main opposition party status in the state. (Edited)
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