New Delhi
Much is being written and will be still written for sometime on the BJP's move to replace Tripura Chief Minister.
BJP's state unit chief Dr Manik Saha is the new Chief Minister now and as the leader of the 'organization' he is expected to use the ‘system’ in the party’s favour largely because of his grip at the grassroots level.
Expectations are always high as the move to drop former Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb comes hardly eight months before the state assembly polls due early 2023.
Biplab Deb had limitations and issues to lead in a state where Bengalis - given to their
own perspective of intellectualism - are in large numbers.
Manik Saha
Once Deb while addressing a Civil Services Day function had said, "After pursuing mechanical engineering one should not go for Civil Services. Instead, civil engineers should join Civil Services as they have the knowledge and experience to help build administration and society".
Opposition Left, the Congress and lately the Trinamool Congress have from time to time been critical of the performance of the former Chief Minister Bipab Deb, who was initially also given out as a 'reluctant politician'.
The BJP high command was - however - reluctant even till last year to replace him.
In fact, there is little gainsay to point out that the saffron party knows the art of replacing Chief Ministers pretty well. They have done in Gujarat; bringing in political greenhorn and first time legislator Bhupendra Patel. It was billed as a classic and master stroke.
In Uttarakhand, they replaced three Chief Ministers and ultimately had the last laugh too as Pushkar Singh Dhami could lead the party to victory in fiercely contested assembly polls earlier this year.
Two Lotus party leaders from Tripura Sudip Roy Burman, a former Health Minister, and Ashish Saha angrily quit the party joined Congress earlier this year after the demand against Biplab Deb was not heeded.
The saffron party strategists including party chief J P Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah were - however- convinced - in the ultimate - that they will have no other option but to replace Deb.
Despite the bravado of a 'performing party', even BJP insiders and RSS key players knew that Biplab Deb had 'limitation' to function as the Chief Minister. Insiders say, "He not only lagged political acumen; he kept on doing mistakes in terms of silly utterances at times at the press conferences".
Although political detractors including Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress, which entered into the state last year, now claim standing vindicated following Deb's resignation; it is also true they realise the BJP has in the other states managed to beat 'anti incumbency' by replacing Chief Ministers.
"Goodbye and good riddance to the CM (Deb) who failed thousands of people in Tripura," tweeted the All India Trinamool Congress twitter handle. But Mamata's outfit and other detractors the BJP's move would deprive them of a favourite punching bag.
The charge of incompetence against Deb is not entirely without merit.
Some of his faux pas in the media were also classic.
Here are a few. “When ducks swim in water, the oxygen level automatically increases in the water body”.
His government was planning to distribute 50,000 ducklings to villagers whose homes are near water bodies.
The saffron party had to look for cover when the Chief Minister of a state with a substantial Bengali population had said that Rabindranath Tagore had returned the Nobel prize to protest the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
In retrospect, Biplab Deb had in his destiny the name, fame and glorious and a bit controversial four and half years in power.
Biplab deb was actually picked by RSS pointman Sunil Deodhar in 2016-17 a few months before the 2018 battle royale. This was the time when BJP hardly had organisational presence in Marxists-bastion.
Delhi journalist circles know Biplab Deb as a shy boy from northeast, who actually was working for sometime as 'assistant' to a BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh.
In 2016, he was picked up by Deodhar as the BJP hardly had organisational presence in the northeastern state - where Bengalis are in majority. The state like West Bengal had strong communist and Marxism leaning among the citizenry.
But after 25 years of power, the Marxists had developed their weakness and faultlines in politics and also in administration and hence the BJP - powered by its resources from Delhi and Sangh's meticulous man-management could easily take the battle into Leftists' camp and ultimately dethroned them.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's personal charishma and few blunders by the Manik Sarkar regime
like controversial appointments of 10,023 school teachers helped BJP sail the boat in 2018.
One reason the BJP decided to pull up its socks in Tripura was the rise of a new party, Tipra Motha.
This party, it is believed, has succeeded to sway the sentiment of the indigenous rinal people
and in the next elections the party was going to be the determining factor.
The nervousness in the BJP camp is palpable as there are apprehensions that the TIPRA Motha
could field many candidates in the general seats and would add to the pressure by managing both
the tribal as well as non-tribal Bengali votes.
The Tipra Motha is led by Pradyot Bikram Manikya DebBarma, who has apparently emerged as the neo-challenger
to the saffron party for the fast approaching 2023 polls.
Pradyot Manikya was an active Congress politician earlier and his father Kirit Bikram Debbarma was a three time
MP and his mother Bibhu Kumari, also a former Congress legislator.
Replacing Deb would give the BJP an opportunity to recast its strategies in more ways than one.
But lady luck , which helped Biplab Deb, could not save the day. Talk to his detractors and they will
say - the coterie around him also was responsible for 'unpopularity' of the Chief Minister. A few
critics also grudge his wife's (a north Indian bank official) alleged interference on some matters of governance.
Some, however, say Deb's policies often left a section of Babudom aggrieved.
There was another vital issue in Tripura where strong Leftists culture also created room for 'propaganda
politics' as well. In 2019, cops had arrested a Facebook user for allegedly spreading fake information
about a "divorce suit" filed against Tripura Chief Minister Deb by his wife.
ends
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