Maharani Kriti Singh Debbarma – The Tripura Royal, BJP Candidate From Tripura East (image-facebook/Kriti Singh Debbarma)

Just days after Tripra Motha joined the BJP alliance in Tripura, the Bharatiya Janata Party has decided to field Maharani Kriti Singh Debbarma as its candidate from the East Tripura constituency. Kriti will replace Rebati Tripura, the current sitting MP of BJP from the Scheduled Tribes (ST)-reserved seat.

Kriti Singh is the sister of Pradyot Manikya Debbarma, the head of the Tripura royal family and founder of the Tripra Motha Party. She hails from a family deeply rooted in politics with both her parents being active members of the Congress party. Kriti’s father along with being the last reigning monarch of the state has also been a three-time MP. Similarly, her mother, Bibhu Kumari Devi has also held the position of Revenue Minister in Tripura.

The BJP ticket to Kriti was confirmed nearly a fortnight after the Narendra Modi government signed a tripartite agreement with the Tripura government and the Tripra for an honourable solution to amicably resolve the issues of the indigenous people of the state.

BJP by fielding Kriti said that the party has been keen to send someone close to the state’s tribal community to the Lok Sabha to highlight the voice of the tribals and their demands.

Being born into a royal family, she is married to the royal family of Kawardha in Chhattisgarh and a family of politicians. Her husband and parents’ law have also served as the MLAs in the Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Assemblies.

Kriti is married to Yogeshwar Raj Singh, a former Congress politician and scion of the Kawardha Raj royal family of Chhattisgarh. Yogeshwar Raj Singh previously represented the Kawardha Assembly seat of the undivided Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly by winning the election in years 1998. But later he resigned from the party.

Kriti had earlier contested as an independent candidate from Kawardha but lost the election.