Trouble for Biplab Deb: What is happening in Tripura?
Two-and-a-half years after forming the first BJP government in Tripura, Chief Minister Biplab Deb is facing a rebellion. Around a dozen BJP MLAs are camping in Delhi. They want Biplab Deb removed as CM.
Days after claiming that the BJP-led government would last 30-35 years in Tripura, Chief Minister Biplab Deb faces a rebellion within his own party. Biplab Deb had added a rider saying the BJP can have a long-lasting rule if it works to have 80 per cent households with spiritual leader Vivekananda's photograph on their walls.
Now, about a dozen BJP MLAs are camping in New Delhi seeking removal of Biplab Deb as Tripura chief minister. The rebel camp is led by Sudip Roy Barman, the former state health minister. Others in the rebel camp include Sushanta Choudhury, Asish Saha, Ramprasad Pal, Diba Chandra Hrankhawl, Parimal Deb Barma, DC Rankhwal, Atul Deb Barma and Burb Mohan Tripura.
The rebel MLAs have sought meeting with BJP president JP Nadda, who is busy with Bihar Assembly election campaign. The group has got audience from BL Santosh, the general secretary (organisation) of the BJP.
The BJP rebels allege Chief Minister Biplab Deb is acting like a dictator in the Tripura unit of the party and his government is not delivering the promises the BJP had made in the 2018 election.
They claim that Biplab Deb's rule is fuelling anger among the masses and thus building base for a return of the Left Front and support for the Congress. The BJP had defeated the Left Front in 2018 which had ruled the state for 25 years.
NO BJP IN-CHARGE, NO HEALTH MINISTER
The rebellion in the Tripura BJP is accentuated by the absence of two key positions -- a general secretary in-charge of Tripura in the party and a dedicated health minister in the state government.
Ram Madhav was the BJP general secretary in-charge of the Northeast. In the restructuring of the BJP's organisation by JP Nadda, Ram Madhav could not retain his position. The restructuring happened in September end.
Absence of a general secretary in charge of Tripura has possibly brought the state crisis to Delhi. The word in the BJP circles is that the rebels are close to BJP national secretary Sunil Deodhar, who is in-charge of Tripura. Dissident MLAs reportedly are banking on Deodhar for support in their campaign against Biplab Deb.
Incidentally, most of the MLAs who have revolted against Biplab Deb began their political career in the Congress or the Trinamool Congress. They joined the BJP in the run up to the 2018 Tripura election
This is true for Sudip Roy Barman, who is the son of former Chief Minister Samir Ranjan Barman, who is the last Congress leader to have taken oath as the Tripura chief minister. The Congress lost power in Tripura in 1993 to the Left Front, which stayed in power till 2018.
Sudip Roy Barman was the health minister in the Biplab Deb government before being sacked in 2019. He was accused of indulging in anti-party activities. Tripura does not have a dedicated health minister since Sudip Roy Barman was removed from the post.
Sudip Roy Barman was booked in August this year for violating Covid-19 guidelines. The FIR charged him with unauthorised visit to a Covid-19 care centre in Agartala. Many are of the view that absence of a dedicated health minister has affected its fight against Covid-19 in Tripura.
IS THIS THREAT REALLY SERIOUS FOR BIPLAB?
He has a political ambition of his own that has seen him switching parties in the past four years. Sudip Roy Barman along with five other MLAs joined the BJP in 2017 after a brief stint with the Trinamool Congress. He had previously led a group of six Congress MLAs to join the TMC in 2016.
Besides JP Nadda, the rebels have sought audience with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the state of affairs in the BJP.
However, their meeting with BL Santosh did not end with any assurance from the party's influential general secretary about a leadership change or redress of their grievances.
The rebels claim that they have support of around 25 MLAs, who are not happy with the alleged dictatorial attitude of Biplab Deb. The rebels have also said Biplab Deb's knack of getting into controversies with his off-the-mark remarks is bringing disrepute to the BPJ in Tripura.
In the 60-member Tripura Assembly, the BJP has 36 MLAs. Its ally, the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), has eight MLAs. If the rebels' claim of having 25 MLAs on their side stands true, this may put Biplab Deb's government in trouble.