Tripura’s Popular CM Biplab Resigns, Party May Ask Him To Fortify Cadre As State Chief

| Updated: 14 May, 2022 6:05 pm IST

NEW DELHI: Tripura chief minister Biplab Dev, also the first by the BJP in this hill state, on Saturday resigned as the state head, triggering an immediate meeting of party’s legislators led by Union minister Bhupendra Yadav and MP Vinod Tawde, both of whom were rushed to oversee the election of new leader.

The meeting was underway to announce the new CM as well as new chief of party’s unit in Tripura as it prepares for the election in February next year.

Dev, who enjoys the overwhelming support of both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, had led BJP to a handsome victory in 2018 when the saffron party brought down the 25-year-old rule by the Left with 42 seats in alliance with Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (, that also ended Manik Sarkar’s most successful term of two decades.

Sources in the party said that Tripura BJP was facing factionalism with at least four camps led by incumbent president Dr Manik Saha, deputy CM Jishnu Dev Varma , Ram Prasad Paul, Pratima Bhowmik.

Paul, despite being a minister in Deb’s cabinet, was accused of leaking a letter signed by 15 MLAs against Saha, saying that BJP was facing a weak leadership under him.

Many believe that BJP want to use Deb’s stature in the state to reignite the cadre and party worker and unite them.

“After all Biplab Deb is a fiery leader who had teamed with Sunil Deodhar, the then BJP Tripura prabhari (in-charge) and former RSS pracharak, to register this win in 2018 when BJP on its own won 32 seats. Deb has been touring across the state as far as Jampuii in North Tripura to South Tripura to bring trade in the state,” said a senior leader.

However, what made matters worse two days ago was when son of deputy CM, Prateek Kishor Dev Varma, in an inebriated condition had entered into a brawl with the visiting parliamentary panel on housing and urban development in Agartala’s Polo hotel. The viral video became the flashpoint after TMC released it on its Twitter handle.

The panel was being led by chairman and BJP MP Jagdambika Pal. The panel also had a representation of BJP’s Gautam Gambhir, Congress MP Digvijay Singh and AAP MP Sanjay Singh among others.

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Many in the party say that Minister of state Pratima Bhowmik’s attitude towards some BJP MLAs and ministers has been unkind. The rift had begun when Bhowmik wanted to play a bigger role in the November 2021 civic elections in which the BJP registered a historic win.