Agartala: A controversy erupted over the nomination of Tripura’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee Kriti Singh Debbarma, who has been fielded from the Scheduled Caste (ST)-reserved East Tripura constituency with the opposition saying that she does not have any link with Tripura except for her family and relatives.

Kriti Singh submitted her nominations at Ambassa in Dhalai district on Thursday in the presence of chief minister Manik Saha, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state president Rajib Bhattacharjee, TIPRA Motha party Pradyot Kishore Debbarma and others.

Singh is the princess of Tripura’s erstwhile Manikya dynasty and elder sister of TIPRA Motha party founder Pradyot Kishore. She is married to Yogeshwar Raj Singh, royal scion of the erstwhile Kawardha Raj Royal Family in Chhatisgarh.

As per the election commission’s record, she contested the 2018 assembly polls in Chhattisgarh from the Kawardha constituency as an independent candidate under the name “Kriti Devi Singh”. However, while filing nomination papers for the East constituency in Tripura, she used Kriti Singh Debbarma.

Opposition leaders have claimed that Kriti submitted her nomination papers for East Tripura Lok Sabha polls under the title ‘Debbarman’ to avoid her ST certificate controversy.

Congress legislator Sudip Roy Barman raised questions about her eligibility as a candidate for the ST-reserved seat as she is the current resident of Chhatisgarh and does not have any link with the state except her family.

“She does not even stay here. She is a resident of Chhatisgarh. What does she know about the Reangs, Tripuris, Chakmas, Jamatias, Mogs and other sub-tribes and their problems? There is no guarantee that she will stay here even if she is elected”, said Roy Barman.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) veteran leader Pabitra Kar said, “We have heard of it. Right now, we are not saying anything till scrutiny of nominations for East Tripura constituency is done”.

Reacting to it, BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharjee said, “Daughter can use her father’s surname. If anyone (political party) has any issue, they can complain to the election commission”. The TIPRA Motha, which is the BJP’s ally in the state, is yet to react on the issue.

Candidates of the East Tripura constituency would have to file their nomination papers by April 4 and their papers would be scrutinised on the subsequent day.

Elections to the Tripura West Lok Sabha seat will be held on April 19 while the Tripura East parliamentary constituency will go to polls on April 26. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.

While Kriti Debbarma has been fielded on the East Tripura seat, the BJP has fielded former chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb on the West Tripura seat.