Change in Tripura

The removal of Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, which finally took place on Saturday, was in fact long overdue. A former gym instructor in Delhi, Deb had definitely led the BJP to its historic win in the Tripura State Assembly election in 2018, which was more remarkable because the saffron party, despite not having a star leader in the true sense, could oust the Left Front from its bastion in a first-ever direct electoral confrontation between the BJP and the Left in the country. It is a fact that the BJP took shape in Tripura not because it had a cadre of its own, or not because it had the strong presence of other organizations belonging to the Sangh Parivar. Rather, it was a strong anti-Left undercurrent flowing for a long, and which the Congress could not capitalize upon, which a handful of BJP strategists could finally translate into an electoral victory by offering a trustworthy alternative to the people. Though Biplab Kumar Deb was reportedly not the kind of material which other young chief ministers of the Northeast are made of, he was the best available choice both for the BJP and the people in general. That Deb was a wrong choice was first learnt by the BJP when the main strategist of the party who had worked for close to one decade to ensure its victory had to leave the state. Since then, several important leaders have left the party, the most important among them being Sudip Roy Barman, a senior politician, who, after having joined the BJP by quitting the Congress, should have been ideally projected as the BJP's chief ministerial candidate in Tripura, as was done in Assam and Manipur. Now, while Biplab Kumar Deb has been removed and replaced by Rajya Sabha member dental surgeon-turned-politician Manik Saha, who had quit the Congress to join the BJP, as the new Tripura Chief Minister, the opposition parties have found the opportunity to hit out at the BJP. The CPI(M) has described the removal of Deb as proof of the BJP's misrule. Sudip Roy Barman, who had returned to the Congress a few months ago, on his part has said that Deb was synonymous with vendetta politics, corruption and undemocratic activities. The change of Chief Minister by the BJP in Tripura has come just about eight months short of the next Assembly election in the state. It will be worth noting whether Manik Saha, the fourth former Congress leader to become a BJP chief minister in the Northeast, will be really able to ensure a victory for the saffron party in February 2023.