Prakash Mani Tripathi

Prakash Mani Tripathi was born on 30 June 1935. English Wikipedia and later news reports give his birthplace as Deoria, and specifically Barpar village in the Baitalpur development block of Deoria district, then in the United Provinces of British India. His official biographical sketch as a member of the 11th Lok Sabha recorded his place of birth as Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh.

His father was Dr S.N.M. Tripathi, who held a Doctor of Letters and the title Vachaspati. Prakash Mani Tripathi took an M.Sc. in defence studies. He married Shashi Tripathi on 8 May 1960. They had two sons and one daughter.

Tripathi was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Indian Army in June 1955 and served in Jammu and Kashmir. In February 1957 he joined 63 Cavalry. He served as a squadron commander in Nagaland from 1964 to 1965 and completed the staff course at Wellington in 1965. During the 1971 war with Pakistan he fought in Bangladesh. He took part in Mizoram counter-insurgency operations in 1976.

He commanded 3 Independent Armoured Brigade as a brigadier in 1982 and an armoured division as a major general from 1985 to 1988. From 1988 to 1990 he was Director-General of Combat Vehicles at the Defence Research and Development Organisation. His parliamentary biographical sketch said he helped bring the indigenous Arjun tank to final production, with two prototypes handed over to the Army in two years. He was General Officer Commanding of 2 Corps from 1990 to 1992 and Deputy Chief of the Army Staff from 1992 until he retired in 1993. He received the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 1986 and the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 1992.

After retirement he entered politics with the Bharatiya Janata Party. In 1996 he won Deoria for the BJP with 227,155 votes, becoming the seat's first BJP MP, and sat in the 11th Lok Sabha until 1998. He returned as Deoria's MP in the 13th Lok Sabha from 1999 to 2004. In April 2001 the Speaker appointed him chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the stock market scam, a panel of 20 Lok Sabha and 10 Rajya Sabha members. The committee presented its report to the Lok Sabha on 19 December 2002.

Tripathi married Shashi Tripathi on 8 May 1960. They had two sons and one daughter. Their son Shashank Mani Tripathi, founder of the Jagriti Yatra, was elected BJP MP for Deoria in 2024. The family's permanent address was recorded in his Lok Sabha biographical sketch as Tripathi Bhawan, 9-D, Civil Lines, Gorakhpur. He wrote for the Military Journal and the United Service Institution Journal. His listed interests included rural drinking water schemes, rural adult education, foreign affairs and defence. He played golf and was a member of the Delhi Golf Club, the Army Golf Club and the Gymkhana Club in New Delhi. The sketch recorded visits to Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union.

Prakash Mani Tripathi died at 11:15am on Sunday 8 November 2026 at Medanta Hospital, at the age of 91. He had been unwell and under treatment at the hospital. His son, Deoria MP Shashank Mani Tripathi, announced the death on X and said it had taken place in Delhi. Amar Ujala, Jagran and News18 also named Medanta in Delhi, while Navbharat Times placed the hospital in Gurugram. The cause of death was not made public.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath offered condolences. News18 reported that his body would be brought to the ancestral village of Barpar in Deoria district on Monday 9 November, with the funeral that night at Saryu Ghat in Barhaj.

Tripathi combined a full career in the Indian Army, ending as Deputy Chief of the Army Staff, with two terms as the Bharatiya Janata Party's first member of parliament from Deoria. His most prominent parliamentary role was as chairman of the 2001 Joint Parliamentary Committee on the stock market scam, whose report was presented to the Lok Sabha in December 2002. In Deoria his public life has been continued by his son Shashank Mani Tripathi, who won the same seat in 2024.