Tripura CM Biplab Deb Cancels 'Popularity Test' After BJP Central Leadership Steps in
Agartala: The last 72 hours have witnessed heavy political drama in Tripura. A majority of the state’s ruling BJP MLAs and ministers met chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Wednesday late evening to reiterate their support for him.
Earlier on Tuesday, Deb had announced he would seek ‘public opinion’ on December 13 about his continuation as chief minister of the state as he was deeply pained when a group of people chanted slogans like "Biplab Hatao, BJP Bachao (Unseat Biplab, Save BJP)" "Biplab Hatao, Tripura Bachao (Unseat Biplab, Save Tripura)" during the visit of BJP central observer (Prabhari) Vinod Sonkar on Sunday at a state guesthouse here.
“I want to work for people as I have not that much time. But I am deeply pained when people chanted the slogan on Sunday in the state guest house 'Biplab Hatao, BJP Bachao'. I shall ask 37 lakh people of the state, on December 13, to join me at Astabla Maidan in Agartala to tell me what to do. I want to hear from people if they want me to be removed. If people want me to go, I shall submit the report to the party’s high command likewise and leave,” Deb said.
The majority of MLAs and ministers met chief minister Deb at his official residence on Wednesday late evening, pledging their support to him.
While coming out of the chief minister’s residence, education minister and cabinet spokesperson Ratan Lal Nath, said that it was not possible to share the agenda of the meeting publicly, but claimed that he had not seen a chief minister with such a positive outlook in his political career till today.
"A majority of the MLAs and ministers met the chief minister yesterday. We have chosen him as the leader. The announcement of the chief minister has made clear that he is not greedy for the chair. I have never seen such positive-minded chief minister in my 30-year political career. On the contrary, that bold decision showed his simplicity," Nath said.
However, senior leader and BJP MLA Ratan Chakraborty said that the meeting with the chief minister was a courtesy meeting.
While transport minister Pranajit Singh Roy said that they extended full support to chief minster Deb and doubted that those who chanted the slogans against the chief minister last Sunday were actually BJP workers.
The party’s central leadership stepped in to resolve the internal crisis and party national president Jagat Prakash Nadda and state BJP observer (Prabhari) Vinod Sonkar have asked Deb not to consider stepping down.
Later in the afternoon, deputy chief minister Jishnu Dev Varma told reporters, “All the MLAs and ministers held a meeting with the chief minister and held a talk with Jagat Prakash Nadda and Vinod Sonkar, and urged Deb to cancel the ‘public opinion’ programme on December 13. He has accepted our request. So there will be no programme.”
The deputy chief minister also said that the party will look into the matter of the slogan which was chanted against the chief minister on Sunday.
On the other hand, state BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharya said that the opposition CPI(M) and Congress had hatched a conspiracy against the chief minister.
“The senior party leaders are investigating the matter and will find out who all are responsible for the slogans against chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb. However, on social media we have seen that people were talking about the CPI(M) and other political parties behind the conspiracy,” Bhattacharya told The Wire on Thursday.
Earlier, a section of BJP MLAs reportedly sought Deb’s removal during their meeting with the BJP national president, Nadda. The MLAs, however, denied such reports.
Chief of BJP-ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) and revenue minister Narendra Chandra Debbarma said he was shocked by the chief minister's move.
"Such a decision is inappropriate. The chief minister could have taken up this matter in the assembly. This is BJP’s internal feuds and it should be solved at their party level without involving the government. The decision was not right," Debbarma said.
CPI(M) state secretary Gautam Das criticised the move of the chief minister and said it had exposed their (BJP's) "internal feuds".
State Congress vice president Tapas Dey also echoed the same sentiment and said that the chief minister's move was a tactic to hide his unpopularity.
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