AGARTALA, May 10 (TIWN): The 110th birth anniversary of Nripendra Kumar Chanda (Kalu Chanda) was celebrated at Mukthadara Auditorium here on Sunday. Mayor of Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) Dr. Prafullajit Sinha inaugurated the programme.

It is to be mentioned here that a conspiracy by royal scion Durjoy Kishore Debbarman , Gedu Mia and their followers was hatched to merge Tripura with East Pakistan and to begin with Durjoy Kishore was to be placed on Tripura's throne and Gedu Mia appointed as chief minister. Maharani Kanchanprava Debi and Prince Kirit Bikram were at the time lodged in Shillong.

A group of three influential persons Nripendra Kumar alias Kalu Chanda , Amarendra Debbarman (Banshi Thakur) and Prafulla Kumar Ray rushed to Shillong and apprised Maharani of the situation. Following clear directives received from the Maharani the trio visited Delhi and met in deputation with Sardar Vallavbhai Patel.

The 'iron man' intervened strongly and the conspiracy was foiled. The 'instrument of accession' or the formal agreement of Tripura's merger with the Indian union was signed by Maharani Kanchanprava Debi on behalf of minor king Kirit Bikram on 13.08.1947 making Tripura a princely state within Indian union and paving the way for exercise of total power in regard to defence , foreign affairs ,transport and communication and several other matters by the central government, the remaining power being vested in the state government. Contrary to popular perception the real agreement of merger whereby Tripura totally merged with the Indian union as a constituent state was signed by sole Regent Maharani Kanchanprava Debi on October 9 1949 in New Delhi while the administration of the state was taken over by government of India with effect from October 15 1949.

Deputy Speaker of Tripura Legislative Assembly Pabitra Kar and other dignitaries were present in the programme.