Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma

Some Lesser Known Facts About Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma

• Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma is an Indian social activist, journalist, entrepreneur, politician, the head of the royal family of Tripura, and the 186th titular Maharaja of the state. He came to the limelight in September 2019 after he broke away from the Indian National Congress. In 2021, he established the Tipra Motha Party (TMP), a regional political party. For playing a vital role in the 2023 assembly polls in Tripura, several media houses called him the “kingmaker.”

• After completing his formal education, Pradyot became a member of the Indian National Congress (INC). Later, he began organising political rallies for the Congress and campaigned for the party during the regional, and central elections.

• In an interview, Pradyot said that he realised the need of establishing Greater Tipraland, a separate state for the marginalised tribals of Tripura after his sister was taken into custody in 1996 by the cops without any warrant or evidence. Talking about it, he said,
  

  It was 25th February, 1996 and 1:30 am, I remember the date because I was watching the Champions League (football match). There was a knock at the door, and my chowkidaar (security guard) informed [me] that a few armed men are at the gate. Turned out they were policemen, who without a warrant or any evidence arrested my sister, just on the basis of her ethnicity. That was the first time that I felt acutely conscious of my ethnicity.”

  His demand for Tipraland has been termed inappropriate by many politicians as they believe that it has caused a stir between the natives of Tripura and the Bengalis, who are settled in Tripura. The politicians further claim that the formation of Tipraland would mean annexing parts of Assam and other northeastern states; however, Pradyot has often defended himself by saying that his demands are under the provisions made by the Indian constitution. He further said that he has no intentions of demanding land from neighbouring states for forming Tipraland. While giving an interview, he said,

  Nobody wants an inch of Assam. Mizoram and Arunachal, I think, want an inch of Assam. Meghalaya wants a pie of Assam. Not me. This is not a demand similar to that of the Nagas who want parts of Manipur and Burma. I have educated people in my party and I would never say something that goes beyond the boundaries of our Constitution.”

• In 2005, he was appointed as the general secretary of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC). He held the post till 2010.

• In July 2007, Pradyot became editor-in-chief of a regional news magazine titled TheNortheastToday (TNT). A few years after its establishment, TNT became completely digital and stopped printing magazines. He left the post of editor-in-chief in 2020.

• He assumed the presidency of the Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) in February 2015.

• In September 2015, assumed ownership of a heritage hotel named The Heritage Club – Tripura Castle, which was the summer retreat of the rulers of the Manikya kingdom.

• In 2018, Pradyot began actively campaigning for his sister Pragya after the INC gave her a ticket to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the Tripura East constituency.

• Pradyot established Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA), a social movement organisation, in 2019. The organisation was established in response to the Indian government’s Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). Even though TIPRA protested against the CAA, they supported the implementation of the NRC in Tripura.

• Thereafter, he was appointed as the chairman of a Tripura-based NGO named Royal Tripura Foundation, which aims at providing education to the poor and the needy through its school Maharaja Kirit Bikram Memorial School. The NGO also organises free medical camps for the tribal populace and camps for teaching the locals methods of preserving nature.

• Pradyot not only resigned from the presidency of the TPCC but also from the Congress party in September 2019. Pradyot, in an interview, said that he resigned because the party’s leadership was trying to dictate its terms on him to accommodate important party posts to corrupt party members. He also accused the party of neglecting the state’s demands. According to several sources, the party members turned against him after he filed a PIL in a court demanding the implementation of the Modi government-introduced NRC in Tripura. Talking about his resignation, he said,
  

  I have resigned from all posts of the Congress a few days ago. The party high command had asked me to compromise with a section of state leaders, but I told them it was not possible. Then they asked me to withdraw the litigation that I have filed for the introduction of NRC (National Register of Citizens) in Tripura, but I did not agree to it, too.”

• Pradyot renamed TIPRA to Tipra Motha Party (TMP) and converted the social movement organisation into a political party on 5 February 2021. He later announced that he would contest the 2021 Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) elections on a ticket from TMP. Before the elections, TMP allied with the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT), an indigenous political party from Tripura.

  

• In April 2021, Pradyot contested the TTAADC election from the Scheduled Tribe (ST) reserved Takarjala-Jampuijala constituency and emerged victorious. He secured 13,164 votes. In the elections, the TMP and INPT coalition emerged victorious by winning 18 out of 28 seats.

  

• The Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT), the Tipraland State Party (TSP), and IPFT (Tipraha) merged with the TMP in June 2021.

• In the same year, he made a cameo appearance in the Hindi film Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar.

• In 2023, before the beginning of the assembly election in Tripura, Pradyut said that despite receiving offers from several national political parties to contest the elections in a coalition, he turned down their offers as none of the parties was ready to give it in writing that they would help him in the formation of a separate state Greater Tipraland. He further said that the parties tried to bribe him for a merger by offering him huge sums of money and a post in the cabinet. While giving an interview, he said,
  

  I do not believe in the mere words of leaders. You are educated. Give us in writing what you will give to Tiprasas. If you cannot give in writing, do not try to buy me. These leaders fight for the next elections while my fight is for the next generation. This is the difference between a leader and a king. I will not live forever. This is my last fight for you. I will not take money or post with me. When I die, people need to say that Pradyot Kishore fought for his community….”

• TMP contested the 2023 assembly elections in Tripura and fielded candidates on 48 out of 60 seats. Pradyot, however, did not contest the assembly polls.

  

• Later, several media sources claimed that Pradyot was seeking retirement from active politics after the 2023 assembly elections; however, Pradyot dismissed the claims and said that the media interpreted his speech as he was talking about not asking for votes for the 2023 elections anymore.

• Pradyot can speak many languages including Hindi, English, Bengali, Khasi, and Kokborok.

• Pradyot loves dogs. He owns more than a hundred dogs in his castle.

  

• Pradyot owns a part of the Shillong-based Lajong Football Club.

• He wanted to become a lawyer; however, his dream could not come true as his father died.

• In his leisure time, he likes to play the guitar. He also owns many guitars signed by his favourite musicians.

  

• He occasionally drinks liquor. ^[9]GQ India

• At the North East Students Committee and the North East Regional Development Association (NERDA), Pradyot has served as a chairman. Later, Tripura Central University appointed him as a member of its governing council.

• While giving an interview, Pradyot said that he was almost asked to leave a flight in the United States as he was intoxicated and smelled of alcohol. He further said that before catching the flight, he attended a party in the United States with the Guns N’ Roses lead vocalist Axl Rose and got drunk.

• Pradyot supports the Indian Armed Forces, but he has often spoken publically about abolishing the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Northeast India.