Agartala, Apr 25 (IANS): A day before the second phase of Lok Sabha elections, the ruling BJP in Tripura on Thursday served a show cause-notice to one of the party’s Vice-Presidents, Patal Kanya Jamatia, who accused Tipra Motha Party (TMP) chief Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma of “spreading hatred” among tribals and non-tribals in the state.
Tripura BJP chief spokesman Subrata Chakraborty said the party has served a show-cause notice to Jamatia and asked her to file a reply within five days.
Chakraborty also said that it was her personal remark which the party strongly disapproved of.
“Our state President Rajib Bhattacharjee would decide on action after getting the reply from Jamatia,” Chakraborty told the media.
A veteran tribal leader, Jamatia, who is also the chairperson of the state-owned Tribal Rehabilitation and Plantation Corporation (TRPC), had alleged that TMP supremo Debbarma “through his narrow politics is spreading hatred among the various ethnic groups like Tripuri, Jamatia, and Reang and tribals and non-tribals".
She also claimed that Debbarma, a scion of erstwhile Tripura’s royal dynasty, has not only “cheated the tribals in the name of politics involving indigenous people” but also damaged the image and reputation of the state’s royal family.
She asserted that the “indigenous people will not support his party if he did not apologise".
Terming Debbarma as a ‘middleman’, Jamatia said the TMP chief was talked big against the BJP till recently, but now he has changed colours and joined the BJP to serve his personal interest.
She also cautioned the top BJP leadership against putting too much trust in Debbarma who “has only his personal agenda to fulfill”.
"I am a faithful soldier of the party and dedicated follower of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. That’s why I am saying all this. This man (Debbarma) can do no good to the state and its indigenous people. I must try by all means to protect the interests of my party,” Jamatia stated.
The TMP remained silent on Jamatia’s remarks but the BJP disapproved of the statement.
After signing a tripartite agreement with the Centre and the state government on March 2, the opposition TMP joined the BJP-led coalition government on March 7 and two of its MLAs – Animesh Debbarma and Brishaketu Debbarma -- became ministers.
TMP chief Debbarma persuaded the central BJP leaders to nominate her elder sister Kriti Devi Debbarman from the Tripura East Lok Sabha seat as a BJP nominee, prompting resentment among the tribal leaders of both the BJP and TMP.
Kriti Devi Debbarman is a resident of Chhattisgarh for many years.