Hundred Rupee Note & King’s Vote: Pradyot Deb Barma Would Rather ‘Ekla Cholo’ Than Form Alliance in Tripura | Exclusive

The stage is set for Tripura to get its new government for the next five years with the assembly election results coming out on Thursday. The wait will finally be over and the country will know who won the political tussle after months of campaigning.

Ahead of the much-awaited poll results, Tipra Motha Party President and King of Tripura Pradyot Manikya Debbarma exclusively spoke to CNN-News18. As he reached to cast his vote on February 16 at Abhiram Mukumu S.B School’s polling booth in Mandai Bazaar, hundreds of people gathered who had been waiting for their King, to give them his blessings.

An old lady took out a hundred rupee note and handed it over to Debbarma as a “lucky charm”. Meanwhile, some touched his feet and others clicked selfies with him. Reacting to the abundant support from the public, Debbarma said, “All throughout my poll campaign, there was immense pressure on me for the coalition from several parties. However, this hundred rupee note is worth thousand times more than the money which was offered to me from the kitty of industrialists.”

Talking about his party Tipra Motha, he showed faith in winning with a huge margin. He emphasized that people have come out in huge numbers for the change and for their rights. “We shall form the government and the mandate is clear. If not, I would prefer Ekla Chalo Re and sit in the opposition, rather than associating with parties” expressed Pradyot Manikya.

Thousands of tribal youths settled in and out of Tripura and gathered in huge numbers to support Tipra Motha. In the crowd was a young man with a yellow jersey with ‘Dinesh Debbarma’ written on the back. He works as a manager with an MNC in Bangalore and encouraged many people to come out and vote.

“It’s our one last fight and our Bubagrah had appealed to our youths to stay out of Tripura to return and vote. I had taken a small initiative on my own to ensure that we win this last fight and realize the dreams of our King and the aspirations of Tripura” he said.

BJP had grabbed Tripura’s governance from the CPI(M) in a surprise win in 2018. Besides, several exit polls indicated that the BJP would get between 36-45 seats in the 60-member assembly by garnering 45 per cent of the popular vote, most of it in the plains where Bengalis live, giving it a spectacular win.

Right after exit polls were released on February 27, Pradyot Manikya released an audio message for his people and those in the political galleries. Taking a jibe at his rivals, he said losers makes the loudest noise ahead of their defeat.

“Don’t be sad over the exit polls shown on television. You voted and you know who you voted for. These people will write anything for money. Don’t worry and just wait for another 36 hours and after that entire India will come to know what Tiprasa is going to do this time”, he said.

“Those who are bursting crackers now, we will have to help them after the results on March 2 because they would spend all their money bursting crackers by then. And then we will talk about the main constitutional solution. I am talking to you all..don’t worry. Those who make the biggest noise before the defeat”, added the Bubagrah.

Tripura registered a voter turnout of 87.6 per cent which was a few points lesser than that of 89.3 percent recorded in 2018. The counting of votes will take place on March 2. Most seats witnessed a triangular contest among the BJP, the Left-Congress alliance, and the Tipra Motha. The TMC was also in the fray but failed to make much of an impact, according to the exit polls.

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