Amid the confusion in the party’s rank and file, Tipra Motha supremo Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma on July 17 said he will continue to serve the party as a warrior.
This comes a day after Mr. Debbarma announced he was stepping down as chairman of the party as there is no provision of it in the newly adopted party constitution.
Rebel-turned-politician BK Hrangkhawl will continue as the president of the regional party.
“I am a warrior of the party. I will continue to fight for my ideology- thansa [unity] and greater Tipraland. I am not leaving Tipra Motha and want to build the party from the grassroots level,” he told a press conference.
Mr. Debbarma, who floated the party in February 2021, said, “Manik Sarkar is no longer the head of the CPI(M) in Tripura, but has he quit the party?”
“Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are no longer the presidents of the Congress, but have they left the party ? Amit Shah is also not the national president of BJP, should he quit the party? As long as blood flows in my body, I will remain a warrior of Tipra Motha,” he said.
Noting that he had served the party as chairman for two-and-a-half years, Mr. Debbarma said the Election Commission’s guidelines doesn’t allow a party to have a chairman and president.
Asserting that Tipra Motha will be completely restricted to the pyramid style, Mr. Debbarma said committees will be constituted by September to get the party ready for the village committees polls.
“We are going to launch a peaceful agitation on the party’s decisions adopted in the plenary session. Party offices will be constructed in all the eight districts to strengthen the organization,” he said.
Alleging that there have been ploys to break the thansa in the name of language, script and religion, Mr. Debbarma said the Tipra Motha will not allow the ‘Manipur experiment’ to happen in the northeastern State.
“All are alarmed by the killing of 18 people in the panchayat elections in West Bengal, but why has the Centre failed to take proper initiative in Manipur even after the mass killings and arson?”, he asked.