Agartala, 12th September 2026 : Tripura on Friday bid farewell to veteran politician and former Congress MLA Tapas Dey, who passed away at the age of 84 after a prolonged illness. Dey breathed his last at 1:45 am at GBP Hospital in Agartala, bringing an end to a political and social career that stretched across several decades.
News of his death prompted an outpouring of condolences from political leaders cutting across party lines, with Chief Minister Prof. Dr. Manik Saha describing his contribution to Tripura’s public life as lasting and significant.
Saha said Dey’s work as both a politician and social worker had left a deep imprint on the state. He expressed condolences to the bereaved family and prayed for eternal peace for the departed soul.
Minister Ratan Lal Nath, Agartala Mayor Dipak Majumder and former Union Minister Pratima Bhoumik were among those who mourned the veteran leader.
One of the more personal tributes came from former Tipra Motha chief Pradyot Kishore Debbarma, who remembered Dey as his first political mentor. Debbarma recalled how Dey introduced him to Tripura’s history and political landscape and acknowledged the influence of the veteran leader on his own political journey.
Following Dey’s death, Debbarma appealed to Tipra Motha workers to lower the party flag to half-mast and observe a minute’s silence in his memory. He also said his mother, Rajmata Bibhu Devi, shared the grief and conveyed condolences to Dey’s family.
Dey’s own political journey reflected some of the major social and political changes that shaped Tripura after Partition. He came to the state in 1965 as a refugee from East Pakistan and soon became involved in student politics.
During his student years at Tripura Polytechnic and Ram Thakur College, he emerged as a prominent student leader and was elected General Secretary. His entry into electoral politics came in 1972, when he won the Shalgara Assembly constituency and became one of the youngest legislators in the state at the time.
For several years, Dey remained associated with the Indian National Congress and was closely linked with veteran Congress leader Priyadas Chakraborty. His political career later took him through the Tripura Democratic Front before he joined Tipra Motha, where he emerged as a senior and respected figure.
Age did little to diminish his political involvement. At 81, Dey contested the 2023 Tripura Assembly elections as a Tipra Motha candidate, underlining his continued commitment to public life.
His final journey on Saturday brought him to several institutions and places with which his public life had been closely associated.
His mortal remains were first taken to the Tripura Legislative Assembly, where legislators and political leaders, including Tripura Pradesh Congress president Asish Kumar Saha and Assembly Speaker Rampada Jamatia, paid their last respects and offered floral tributes.
From the Assembly, the body was taken to the Agartala Press Club. Members of the media fraternity, political leaders and admirers gathered there to honour the veteran politician and social worker.
The final public tribute took place at the Rajbari, where Tipra Motha supporters and workers, led by CEM Runiel Debbarma, paid homage with flowers.
With Dey’s passing, Tripura has lost a political figure whose career traversed generations, parties and some of the state’s most significant political transitions.
