'Not a Party's Victory, It's Restoration of Our Rights': Pradyot Hails SC Order on VC Polls
Jun 16, 2026
Describing it as a victory for "the people of our state" and not for any political party, TIPRA Motha chief Pradyot Kishore Debbarman said the Supreme Court's order fixing September 27 for the long-pending Village Committee (VC) elections in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) area had restored a constitutional right that Tiprasa villagers had been denied for nearly a decade.
A vacation bench of Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi passed the order on Tuesday on a writ petition filed by Debbarman, who had approached the apex court seeking immediate elections to the Village Committees (VCs), the lowest tier of elected governance in the council area. Although Debbarman and another respondent had pressed for the polls to be advanced to August given the prolonged delay, the court accepted the timeline proposed by the Tripura State Election Commission (SEC) in its affidavit, since both sides were largely in agreement on the rest of the process.
As per the schedule placed before the court, nominations for the VC elections will be invited between September 1 and 8, followed by scrutiny and withdrawal of candidatures from September 9 to 11. The campaign period runs from September 12 to 26, with polling on September 27. Repoll, if required, will be held by October 1, counting is expected by October 3, and the entire process, including the final notification, is to be completed by October 5.
Reacting to the order in a social media live video held shortly after the hearing, Debbarman said, "This victory does not belong to one political party. This win of ours is not about politics. It is the restoration of the right we had in our Constitution, the right that had not been given to us for so long. The Constitution has been restored in the ADC today."
In a Facebook post written before the Live, he had already welcomed the State Election Commission's affidavit, calling it "a huge relief and victory for the people of our state," and writing that the rights of the people had been "restored by the efforts of the people."
In an earlier live held before the hearing, Debbarman recounted what he described as a lonely, self-funded legal battle.
"This fight I have fought alone, with my own money, and I fought it because I want my Tiprasa people in my village to get the real rights that democracy gives. It is very shameful that we talk about one nation, one election, we talk about democracy, but it took us ten years to hold an election in even one village," he said.
Debbarman further said that he had funded nearly two years of High Court and Supreme Court litigation entirely from his own pocket. In his social media post before the first live, he had similarly spoken of a "long and expensive struggle" and "lakhs of legal expenses and travels."
He also pushed back at critics who he said had questioned his efforts, adding, "Many people have pointed fingers at me. I am exhausted, but not so exhausted that I will stop raising my people's voice, and I will keep raising it. Do not take the Tiprasa lightly: today's Tiprasa can go to the Supreme Court, today's Tiprasa is educated, and today's Tiprasa's king, the Bubagra, will always fight not just for his party, but for the cause."
However, taking direct aim at his political critics, he said, "You held press conferences, you gave press bytes, but you never spent a single rupee from your own pocket, which I did, going to the Supreme Court to bring justice for our people. You criticise me, but I did not fight this fight for my party. I fought it for my state."
He repeated the charge more sharply after the verdict was announced, "I went to the Supreme Court, I fought, I spent money. You only held press conferences, you only gave speeches; you never spent even ten rupees from your own pocket. But you are always ready to give free advice. Where were these opposition leaders? They never fought, they only spoke at press conferences, hurled abuse and made allegations, but never did anything themselves."
Meanwhile, Debbarman thanked his supporters and admitted to exhaustion, saying, "I want to thank our people first, because your support is what allowed me to keep fighting. I am exhausted, truly exhausted, but today, with this victory, I felt that I fought the right fight, fought for my people."
He also appeal to Tiprasa supporters across party lines to set aside political differences and focus on village development ahead of the polls, a call he has made before in past elections in the council area.
He closed with a message aimed as much at his own party's leadership as at his rivals, "I will not be in every fight. The Bubagra will not win every fight for you every time. I have brought you this far, now it is also your responsibility."
