Tipra an ally, BJP returns favour with ticket to Tripura ‘royal’: Who is Kriti Debbarma?

Days after the Tipra Motha joined the BJP-led government in Tripura, the BJP, in its second list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, named Kriti Singh Debbarma – the sister of royal scion-turned-politician and Tipra founder Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma – as its candidate from the East Tripura constituency.

Kriti replaces Rebati Tripura, the sitting BJP MP from the Scheduled Tribes (ST)-reserved seat.

The BJP’s ticket for Pradyot’s sister came nearly a fortnight after the Narendra Modi government signed a tripartite agreement with the Tripura government and the Tipra for an “honourable solution” to “amicably resolve” all issues of the indigenous people of the state.

The accord brought an end to fast-unto-death undertaken by Pradyot from February 27. It also brought the principal Opposition TIPRA Motha into the BJP-led NDA fold.

The nomination of Kriti did not come as any surprise, with Pradyot having repeatedly asserted that “his own people will go to Delhi from East Tripura seat” to “make sure that the tripartite agreement was not blocked”. He has also said that his “party symbol did not matter as much as the right person to pursue the accord”.

Following the BJP’s move, the Tipra took to social media to say, “Another milestone for the successful implementation of the historic TIPRASA accord. Heartiest Congratulations to Maharani Kriti Singh Debbarma on being declared as the joint candidate of TIPRA Motha Party and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from the Tripura East (ST) Parliamentary Constituency.”

Speaking to The Indian Express, Pradyot “welcomed” the BJP’s announcement, saying that “someone close to the state’s tribal community would work to further the tripartite accord once she (Kriti) gets to the