Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barma | |
|---|---|
 Bubagra Pradyot Manikya in 2024 | |
| Chairman of Tipra Motha Party | |
| Assumed office 24 December 2019 | |
| Member of District Council ofTTAADC | |
| Assumed office 19 April 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Ramendra Debbarma |
| Constituency | Takarjala-Jampuijala |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1978-07-04)4 July 1978 (age 47) |
| Party | Tipra Motha Party |
| Parents |
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| Relatives |
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| Residence(s) | Ujjayanta Palace (Nuyungma),Agartala |
| Education | |
| Occupation |
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Pradyot Manikya Deb Barma (born 4 July 1978) is the current titular King (Maharaja) and statesman fromTripura. He was born inNew Delhi, and now resides inAgartala, Tripura. He also served as the editor of TNT-The Northeast Today. He is the current chairman ofThe Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance also known as TIPRA Motha.[1][2] He is known as 'Bubagra'[3] among his people and is one of the active voices for the rights of IndigenousTripuri people ofTripura.
Pradyot was born in New Delhi on 4 July 1978 as the first son ofKirit Bikram Kishore Debbarma[4] andBhibu Kumari Devi. His childhood days were spent inShillong,Meghalaya at the Tripura castle. He studied history atSt. Edmund's College, Shillong.[5]
Pradyot Manikya's work, philanthropy, activism, and politics revolve around the socio-political, economic, and cultural development of the Indigenous people ofTripura.
As a youth, Pradyot Manikya was an activeIndian National Congress politician. His father Kirit Bikram Debbarma was a three-time MP and his mother Bibhu Kumari Devi, a two-time Congress MLA had served as the Revenue Minister of Tripura. Although Pradyot did not contest election until the 2021 TTAADC election, he had remained active in protest, agitations and movement for the Tiprasa people of Tripura.
In the 2018 Lok Sabha election, he was an active campaigner for his sister Maharaj Kumari Pragya Debbarma who contested for the Tripura East. He had also tried to forge a regional alliance during that period which did not happen.
After the fallout with theTripura Pradesh Congress in 2019,[6][7] Bubagra Pradyot Manikya resigned from the President post over the dispute ofNRC case filing and took a break from active politics.[8] However, he started to gain voice and support for his agitation against theCitizenship Amendment Bill, 2018 (now an act). He also jointly filed a case withTPF Supremo Patal Kanya Jamatia in the Supreme Court to revoke CAA in the state ofTripura and enforceNRC with the cut off year as 1951.
Pradyot formed the thenNGO TipraHa Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance to assist stranded people during the COVID crisis. Through his effort, students and workers living in various cities of India were brought to their respective home to Tripura.[9]
TheTipra Motha Party led by Pradyot came to being ahead of the 2021 TTAADC election. The party won the election with a landslide securing 18 seats out of the 28 seats.[10] In 2023, Pradyot's Tipra Motha Party won 13 seats in Tripura Assembly Election.[11][12]
The Tiprasa Accord was signed on March 2, 2024 as a tripartite agreement between Pradyot ledTipra Motha Party (TMP),Tripura Government, andGovernment of India.[14][15] The agreement sought to bring about a constitutional solution safeguarding the identity, culture, language, and uplifting the socio-economic conditions of the Indigenous Tiprasa people.[16]
Bubagra Pradyot is quite active in his public life and can be seen having taken part on several occasions like the TEDx Talks.[17] On 16 February 2020, he organized a Q&A interactive session with students at Townhall, Agartala where he talked and discussed about leadership, clarity and issues likeCitizenship Amendment Act with the students present. He also suggested that a scholarship in the name ofMaharaja Bir Bikram be started by the Government of Tripura rather than putting up a statue.[18]
He launched The Northeast Today, a magazine targeted at residents of India's northeastern states.[1] This enjoys a readership just shy of 1,000,000. He resigned and sold his magazine in November 2019 to concentrate on his own regional platform The Indigenous Progressive regional alliance popularly known as TIPRA.[19] He is one of India's most vocal critics of theArmed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and is a prolific guest speaker at universities, the most notable beingHarvard.[20] He has been active in protesting against the CAA since the passing of the bill in 2019 at the parliament.
TIPRA is still more of a movement than a political party.Pradyot Bikram Manikya, Outlook.
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar | Himself (guest appearance)[citation needed] |
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