Agartala, Dec 4 (IANS): Ruling BJP ally Tipra Motha Party's (TMP) women's wing on Wednesday staged a massive protest opposing the Tripura government's reported move to privatise the iconic Pushpabanta Palace and convert it into a five-star hotel by a private group.

After a series of protests by various wings of TMP, on Wednesday Tripura Women Federation organised a sit-in-demonstration to protest the government's plan to convert the Pushpabanta Palace into a hotel.

Senior TMP leader and Chairman of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) Jagadhish Debbarma said that the iconic 107-year-old Pushpabanta Palace is a historical structure not only for the tribals but for the entire people of the state.

"We are not against the development of Tripura and the growth of the state's tourism, but not at the cost of the historical assets of the state," the senior tribal leader said on the sidelines of the sit-in-protest in the city.

He said that Pushpabanta Palace is the valued property of the people of Tripura, and the government cannot hand over the historical assets to others for doing business.

"We will continue our protests until the state government gives up its plan,” Debbarma said.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha and Tourism Minister Sushanta Chowdhury separately said that the government has not yet finalised the plan to hand over the palace to any private party to establish a hotel in the century-old palace.

“If the palace is ultimately handed over to the private party, its structural design would remain intact,” the Chief Minister had said.

Last week, the TMP’s youth wing, Youth TIPRA Federation (YTF) and the Tipra Students’ Federation (TSF), separately staged protests in front of the royal palace in Agartala and urged the state government not to hand over the iconic palace to a private hotel group.

The opposition Congress also strongly opposed the state government's move.

Congress Spokesperson Prabir Chakraborty said that during his last visit to Tripura in 1926, Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore stayed at the royal mansion and composed many songs sitting on the veranda of the palace.

He said that the then king Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur celebrated Tagore's 80th birthday in the important palace in 1941.

After India’s Independence, Maharani Kanchan Prabha Devi handed over the palace to the state government in 1949.

Chakraborty said adding that after President Droupadi Murmu laid the foundation of the Pushpabanta Palace Museum during her visit to Tripura in October 2022, the government had allocated Rs 40 crore for the proposed museum.

“The BJP government is trying to destroy the rich culture, traditions and history of Tripura by making the iconic palace into a business hub,” the Congress spokesman said.

The Pushpabanta Palace also known as Kunjaban Palace was built in 1917 by the then Tripura king Maharaja Birendra Kishore Manikya Debbarma Bahadur on 4.13 acres of land and it served as the Raj Bhavan until 2018 before the Governor’s house was shifted to the Capital Complex area on the outskirts of the city.

The erstwhile Left Front government planned to develop Pushpabanta Palace into a digital museum.