biplab statue
Source: Twitter

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Tuesday unveiled a statue of Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur at Dharmanagar.

The Manikya kingdom ruled the State for more the 800 years.

It may be recalled that a statue of Lenin was earlier brought down in the State immediately after the landslide victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Assembly elections which ended the 25 years long rule of the Left Front in the State.

Notably in March earlier, the Government of Tripura announced that a statue of the last ruling king Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur would be erected soon in its place.

Unveiling the statue, the State Chief Minister said that the 37 lakh citizens of the state are forever ‘indebted to Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya, the architect of modern Tripura.’

Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya is known to be architect of modern Tripura, and is credited with building the first airport in the State before the State acceded to the Union of India in 1949.

He is also credited for pioneering land reforms in the then kingdom of Tripura.

The present state government had also named the only airport in the State after the last ruling king Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur.