Agartala: Narendra Chandra Debbarma who held the portfolio of Forest and Revenue, breathed his last on Sunday at the Agartala Govt. Medical College & GBP Hospital.
The 87-year-old veteran politician served as President of IPFT, the BJP’s ally in the Tripura government, and as the most senior member of Dr. Manik Saha’s cabinet.
He underwent surgery two days ago, but defeated all efforts of the doctors to resuscitate him. Debbarma is survived by his wife and five children. Debbarma had suffered a massive brain stroke on Thursday night and was admitted to the hospital in critical condition.
The Medical Superintendent of GBP Hospital, Dr Sanjib Debbarma, said the minister was given the best possible medical care and put through a complex brain operation by a team of doctors led by renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Siddha Reddy on Friday. He was then put in the ICU.
Even though there was a glimmer of hope for his survival, advanced age, and other geriatric ailments put paid to his chances of survival, and he breathed his last, confirming the worst fears of the medical fraternity.
The family sources said his last rites would be performed on Sunday as per the rituals. The assembly sources said N C Debbarma will be cremated with full state honour. His colleagues in government and officials paid tribute to him in the Civil Secretariat.The legislators paid their last respects in the assembly.
Chief Minister Dr Saha expressed his deepest condolences on the death of his senior-most cabinet minister, and in a social media post, he wrote, “Deeply saddened by the passing away of a senior member in the state cabinet, N.C. Debbarma. My condolences to the bereaved family. May the departed soul rest in peace.”
Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma said, “Despite his age, NC da was a source of inspiration for all of us for his well-thought-out acts on any critical issue. Though we knew each other for several decades during our association in the cabinet, he was like a guardian to us. His death has ended an era in Tripura, and we have lost a brilliant politician.”
Manik Sarkar, the leader of the opposition and a former Chief Minister, expressed grief over the death of N C Debbarma, saying, “Despite political differences and ideological differences, he has contributed a lot to Tripura politics, especially for the empowerment of the tribal population.”
Sudip Roybarman, a former cabinet colleague of N C Debbarma, expressed condolences, saying, “NC da is known to have immense contribution in tribal politics of Tripura and was involved with several regional parties, including TUJS, the Tripura Hill Peoples’ Party, the Tripura Tribal National Council, and IPFT.”He was always a reference point for all of us, despite our political differences.”
The CPM State Secretary Jitendra Choudhury said, “N C Debbarma will remain alive to all of us for his contribution to Tripura politics, and he was the witness of several ups and downs and realignments of tribal politics in the state.”
A former director of AIR, Agartala, N C Debbarma had been closely associated with the erstwhile TUJS since its launching in 1967 and then broke and formed many parties like TTNC, IPFT, INPT, and then IPFT again. He was instrumental in forging an electoral alliance between the IPFT and BJP that came to power in the 2018 elections, and he became the revenue minister.
