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Sunday, November 28, 2021

fully saffron at Tripura - once a bastion of commies !

The Sanskrit name of the state is linked to the Goddess of beauty; Tripura Sundari,  popularly known as Matabari, the presiding deity of the Tripura Sundari Temple at Udaipur, one of the 51 Shakti Peethas.   There existed a King by name Tripur too who  was the 39th descendant of Druhyu, who belonged to the lineage of Yayati, a king of the Lunar Dynasty.  Rajmala is a chronicle of the Kings of Tripura, written in Bengali verse in the 15th century under Dharma Manikya. This temple was built by Maharaja Govinda Manikya, during 1660-1675 A.D. The temple is immortalised in two of Rabindranath Tagore's plays namely Rajarshi and Bisharjan.



Kirāta is a generic term in Sanskrit for people who lived in the mountains, particularly in the Himalayas and North-East India and who are postulated to have been Mongoloid in origin. Some theories hold that the word Kirata,  means people with lion nature, suggesting possible relation to the mythical lion-headed tribe called Kimpurusha.  Kirata Kingdom in Sanskrit literature and Hindu mythology refers kingdom of  dwellers in Himalayas; they took part in the Kurukshetra War along with Parvatas.  An ancient name of this State which became a State on this day in 1972 [21st Jan 1972] is Kirat Desh.  The Twipra Kingdom ruled the region for centuries; the Rajmala, a chronicle of Tripuri kings which was first penned in the 15th century, provides a list of 179 kings. 

It is a State with long chequered history.  The Kingdom in its peak included the whole eastern region of Bengal from the Brahmaputra river in the north and west, the Bay of Bengal in the south and Burma to the east during the 14th and 15th centuries AD. The last ruler of the princely state was Kirit Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur who reigned from 1947-1949 Agartala after whom the kingdom was merged with India on 9 September 1949 and the administration was taken over on 15 October 1949.  It is the State now known as Tripura. After Indian independence, the princely state of Tripura was merged with the Union of India in 1949. Tripura became a Union Territory on 1 July 1963 and attained the status of a full-fledged state on 21 January 1972.  

Tripura spreads over an area of 10,491.69 sq.km; has  its capital at Agartala.  The languages spoken are : Bengali & Kokborok.  Tripura  is a state in North East India and is the third-smallest state in the country.  Tripura is bordered by Bangladesh to the north, south, and west, while the Indian states of Assam and Mizoram lie to its east.   Bamboo and cane forests are common, while Tripura has the highest number of primate species found in any Indian state. Tripura lies in a geographically disadvantageous location in India, as only one major highway connects it with the rest of the country. This hinders the economic prospects of the state.    

Today’s breaking news is -  Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)  has secured a thumping victory in Tripura civic polls by bagging 329 of 334 seats on November 25. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) - (CPM), the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Tipra Motha won one seat each.   The Agartala Municipal Corporation has become opponent less, with all 51 wards going to the BJP.

In the urban local bodies, polls were conducted for 334 seats, which includes Agartala Municipal Corporation (51 wards), 13 municipal councils, and six Nagar panchayats in Tripura. The election was majorly contested between three parties - the BJP, the TMC and CPI(M). Of the total 334 seats in the state, elections were held in 222 seats across six nagar panchayats, seven municipal councils and the Agartala Municipal Corporation. The total voter turnout recorded was 81.54 per cent.  

BJP has virtually blanked its opponents of Communists and Trinamool.  Also, BJP won in all 13 civic bodies and secured all 51 seats for the Agartala Municipal Corporation.  The BJP supporters took to the streets of Agartala to celebrate the saffron party’s win in the Tripura civic polls.   

Tripura, was considered to be a Left bastion till recent decades.  Tripura goes to polls in 2023, and there still seems to be multiple parties fighting after the civic poll results.  Biplab Kumar Deb  is  the current Chief Minister of Tripura. He has been the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Tripura 2016 till 2018 and led the BJP to victory in the 2018 Legislative Assembly Election, defeating 25 years rule of the Left Front government led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He took  oath as the 10th Chief Minister of Tripura on 9 March 2018. 

It is a saffron avalanche … and everybody else got washed away. 

With regards – S. Sampathkumar
28th Nov. 2021. 

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