Former CM Manik Sarkar Slams Royal Family for Doing Little for Tripura

Launching a scathing attack on the royal family, former Tripura Chief Minister and CPI(M) politburo member Manik Sarkar alleged that the kings did little for the state’s overall development in their 1,300 years of rule.

Sarkar said that they had only opened some schools in the name of kings and queens and dug some lakes.

“The kings have ruled the northeastern state for 1,300 years banking on the tax collected from erstwhile Chaklarosanabad (now in Bangladesh). Except building a (Ujjayanta) palace in Agartala they did little for the state,” he alleged during a party programme in Sepahijala’s district Sonamura on Thursday.

“They made an understanding with the colonial force (British) and ruled the hilly state by collecting revenue from Chakla Roshnabad as there was no scope of revenue from Hill Tripura”, he said.

Without naming Tipra Motha leader Pradyot Kishore Manikya, Sarkar said now one person has taken a vow to liberate 13 lakh people leaving behind the rest of the population.

During the 2023 Assembly elections, Pradyot Kishore Manikya used to claim he doesn’t need power, or money but wants to have one last fight to save 13 lakh Tiprasa people.

“How come one individual says nothing was done during the past 75 years for the tribal people in Tripura? Who constituted the Tripura Tribal Autonomous District Council (TTAADC)? It was the Left which introduced reservations for the indigenous people from education to promotion. Several hundred schools and colleges were opened during the Left Front rule in the state. A total of 1,29,000 indigenous people have got pattas under the Forest Dwellers’ Right Act”, he said.

Sarkar alleged that Tipra Motha’s decision to contest 22 non-ST reserved constituencies was a ploy to block the Left from coming back to power in the last Tripura Assembly elections.

“They had put up candidates in 22 non-ST reserved seats knowing the fact that they will not be able to win in a single seat. Their objective was to prevent the Left Front from returning to power. They (Motha) got only a 19% vote share by contesting 42 seats in the elections. It won only 13 seats out of 20 ST reserved seats”, he said.

Sarkar further alleged that he (Pradyot) used to visit Delhi and Guwahati to hold meetings with Amit Shah and Himanta Biswa Sarma when the Left Front and Congress were stitching an alliance to defeat the BJP in the elections.

“Tipra Motha’s trick came to the fore when it declared candidates for 22 general and SC reserved seats just two days ahead of the last date for submission of nomination papers. It appeared the ploy was chalked out a long time ago”, he added.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)