Agartala: The senior most member of Tripura legislative assembly, minister of forest and revenue, and President of BJP’s ally in the government N C Debbarma was cremated in his native village Naksiraipara of Maharanipur in Khowai district on Monday with full state honour.
He had been suffering from prolonged geriatric ailments and on Thursday he suffered from a brain stroke. The doctors performed complex brain surgery the next day but his condition was not improved. Finally, Debbarma died on Sunday afternoon at Agartala Govt Medical College & GBP Hospital at the age of 87 years.
He was the director of All India Radio, Agartala, and had been promoted to additional director general in Prasar Bharati but he didn’t accept the promotion to remain in Tripura.
Debbarma was in politics since 1967 when Tripura Upajati Juba Samiti (TUJS) launched the movement to press for the demand for the creation of Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (ADC).
Debbarma was the oldest surviving tribal leader of Tripura who had witnessed the realignments of tribal politics in the state over five decades.
He was the architect of the formation of parties like TTNC, IPFT, and INPT. In 2009 it diverged out and again formed IPFT raising a single demand to elevate ADC to a separate Tipraland, which became a formidable force in the 2018 assembly election.
Debbarma was instrumental in forging an electoral alliance between IPFT and BJP before the last assembly polls and IPFT won 8 seats out of 9 contested in 60 members’ house. However, a tussle began between the two parties soon after BJP denied the demand of Tipraland that forced Debbarma to fight separately in the last general election in 2019.
Thereafter, in all the elections IPFT fought independently against BJP nominees but Debbarma prevented the snap of the alliance with BJP that divided IPFT. Protesting against N C’s association with BJP, as many as three MLAs of the party resigned from IPFT and joined royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarman’s party TIPRA Motha.
With the raise of Motha and the absence of N C Debbarma, the further of IPFT became bleak although the second in command in the party and incumbent minister of fisheries and cooperation Prem Kumar Reang on Monday reiterated that IPFT will remain with its identity and there is no chance of being dissolved or merged with any other party.
Meanwhile, BJP state president Rajib Bhattacharjee said IPFT has been a partner of the alliance government led by BJP and still the alliance exists and said, “As of now, BJP-IPFT alliance will fight together in the upcoming assembly elections against Congress and CPI(M). CPI(M) has been recognized as an anti-development party, which pulls people into poverty and does divisive politics. Congress has now joined hands with CPi(M) compromising the interest of the state. We are confident, people will give them a befitting reply and make them zero in the assembly.”
