Tripura royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarma and other winning members of the Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA) will take oath for a new Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) on April 20.
The swearing-in would mark the beginning of a new term after the long-delayed tribal council election saw TIPRA bag 18 of the 28 seats, dealing a massive blow to the ruling BJP-IPFT alliance which managed to win only nine seats. The remaining one seat was one by an independent candidate.
The council has a total of 30 seats, 28 of which are occupied by elected members and the remaining by nominated ones. CPI(M) and the Congress drew a blank in the polls.
Pradyot, who won from Takarjala – Jampuijala ADC seat, might take the charge of the council as its chief executive member. However, he has proposed to make party leader Ananta Debbarma the chairman of the new council. Ananta won from Halahali-Asharambari seat.
TIPRA contested the polls on its demand for a Greater Tipraland, a region comprising the indigenous populations of Tripura, Assam, Mizoram and even parts of neighbouring Bangladesh.
TTAADC chief executive officer Balin Debbarma issued a notice on the oath-taking ceremony recently, stating, “On 20/04/2021, the oath taking ceremony of Chief Executive Member and Executive Members will take place at NUAI Auditorium Hall, Khumulwng.”
The notice further said that Governor Ramesh Kumar Bais would appoint an officer for administering the oath of office and secrecy, or, he himself would administer the oath to the newly elected members.
A day after poll results, Pradyot met the Governor and staked claim to form the new district council.
The polls had recorded a turnout of 85.14 per cent.
The ADC polls were postponed last year due to Covid-19 pandemic and the interim charge of the body was vested in the Governor.
The ADC is spread almost across 70 percent of Tripura. Nearly one-third of the indigenous population, representing 19 different communities, currently reside in ADC-controlled areas. It was formed in 1982.