Congress made a startling claim on Thursday that the alliance deal between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA) was finalised in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The deal included TIPRA joining the State’s coalition government and the selection of a candidate for the East Tripura Lok Sabha tribal reserved constituency, it alleged.
Former Health Minister Sudip Roy Barman alleged in a press conference at the Congress Bhavan that the current political situation is a result of a pact between Pradyot Kishore Debbarman and former Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, who went to Dubai to finalise the deal. Mr. Barman further alleged that two more people accompanied them to Dubai, but he would not name them at this time.
The Congress MLA also claimed that Union MoS Pratima Bhowmik and Rebati Tripura, who were elected as BJP nominees in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, were denied tickets due to the manoeuvring of TIPRA and BJP leadership. The BJP has nominated former Chief Minister and Rajya Sabha Member Biplab Kumar Deb in the West Tripura constituency and Kirti Singh Debbarma, the elder sister of TIPRA founder Pradyot Kishore Debbarman, in the West and East Tripura constituencies respectively.
