Tripura: Tripura chief Pradeep Debbarma dares CPI-M veteran Manik Sarkar at home
Tripura’s royal family and TIPRA Party chief – Pradyot Debabarma – has emboldened former chief minister and CPI-M veteran Manik Sarkar to fight an election battle in the latter’s home constituency.
Manik Sarkar, former Chief Minister of Tripura and a senior Politburo member of CPI-M, has been continuously elected from Dhanpur Assembly constituency since 1995.
Pradyot Debrama added that the TIPRA party would break the tradition of tribal parties contesting elections from only 20 ST reserve seats in Tripura.
“TEPRA will field a candidate in Dhanpur Assembly constituency in the forthcoming state elections. We will break the age-old tradition of tribal parties contesting only ST-reserved seats,” said Pradyot Debbarma .
“It has been decades that no tribal candidate has contested the election (in Dhanpur) even though there were a large number of voters from the local population,” said Pradyot Debbarma.
He added: “Their (local) voices have been ignored.”
“Wherever there is a tribal population, we will field candidates,” he added.
It may be recalled that at least 50 leaders of CPI-M, Congress and BJP joined TEPRA during a program at Ajanta Palace in Agartala, Tripura on Thursday.