Biplab Deb: From Nobody to a CM 

Biplab Deb’s tenure came to an end as quickly as his rise to become Tripura’s Chief Minister at a relatively young age of 48. 

Biplab Deb on Saturday surprised everyone with his resignation as Tripura’s Chief Minister. It was shortly after Biplab Deb return from Delhi, reportedly on the orders of the BJP high command.  

The failure of Biplab Deb to control dissidents within the party and the ruling alliance, according to most Tripura observers, compelled the BJP high command to seek an alternative.  

This was a continuation of BJP’s strategy to change doubtful Chief Ministers before elections. Earlier BJP changed Uttarakhand CM twice, then it replaced Karnataka CM, then came the turn of Gujrat and now Tripura. Tripura goes to assembly polls next year and now Manik Saha will lead the party into polls. 

Biplab Deb: From RSS to BJP  

His family has a long history in the Sangh Parivar, with his father, Hirudhan Deb, being a Jan Sangh ‘organizer.’  Soon after graduation, he moved to Delhi and quickly found mentors in the RSS. He got married to an SBI official when he returned to Tripura 16 years later. Biplab Deb was a trained Sangh speaker, employing a mix of Hindi, Bengali, and English. 

He was put in charge of the BJP’s outreach program- Maha Sampark Abhiyan, which laid the groundwork for the party’s campaign for the Assembly elections, which were then three years away. Biplab Deb was known in party circles to be close to three of the most senior leaders at the top; Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, and Rajnath Singh. 

Biplab Deb had impressed the bosses enough in a year or so with his energetic campaign against the state’s indomitable and long-ruling Communist parties to be named state BJP president in January 2016. He succeeded late Sudhindra Dasgupta, the BJP state committee’s longest-serving Tripura chief. 

He had a task of assembling a team of former Congress leaders, disgruntled Communist leaders, and potential newcomers to mount a challenge to the Left.  

Central BJP leaders and the party’s Northeast face, Himanta Biswa Sarma, now the Chief Minister of Assam, jumped on board the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura. The combination proved too much for the Left Front,. It got defeated in Tripura after 25 years in power. 

Biplab Deb As Chief Minister:  

Biplab Deb encountered difficulties right away in his new role as CM. He wasn’t the only unknown entity to many people in the state and beyond. Many of his ministers, like him, were first-time MLAs in government.   

For a while after taking over, Biplab Deb made headlines for his surprise visits to far-flung areas. He immediately suspension of officers accused of negligence. One of his most infamous claims was that Sanjay used Internet technology to tell the Mahabharata war to blind king Dhritarashtra. 

He also held a public meeting in December 2020, a rarity in the BJP’s disciplined ranks, to seek people’s “mandate” on whether he should continue in office in the face of factionalism.  

J P Nadda, the BJP’s national president, reportedly made an angry phone call to the CM. He ordered him to abandon the plan immediately. The central leadership made it clear that it would handle organisation and that the CM should concentrate on governance.

Reforms in Tripura:  

Among his more popular initiatives was a pledge to make Tripura drug-free. The recovery of massive drug caches and arrests prompted the CMO to claim that Deb had threats to his life. It was from a drug mafia based in Myanmar. 

Biplab Deb, as CM, also attempted to streamline political activities. He combat illegal land grabbing and transport syndicate hooliganism, and implement Internet-based services in various areas of governance.   

Trade and commerce avenues increased, entrepreneurship increased, per capita income increased. Severe crimes such as murders, rapes, and abductions decreased by 30%, and the conviction rate increased more than tenfold. 

Opposition criticized his government of a breakdown in state law and order, particularly on the issue of attacks on opponents. Nearly 40 journalists were attacked during the Deb administration. Not a single arrest in any case reported to police.