KUDOS TO SAHA FOR BJP’S MANIK ‘SARKAR’ 2.0

PARTY, HOWEVER, MUST INTROSPECT RESULT; IPTA, BJP’S POLL ALLIANCE WAS NOT ONLY TORN APART BY THE EMERGENCE OF TIPRA MOTHA BUT IT LOST ITS SHEEN TOO

However, BJP’s timely intervention and removal of Biplab Deb as its CM is seen as an astute masterstroke by the central leadership as political analysts believe that in the remaining few months to the run-up to the 2023 polls, the dental surgeon, Manik Saha, managed to scramble home with the propeople schemes or else the mood of the voters with Biplab Deb around would and could have been different for the Saffron might!

Seventy-year-old BJP leader Manik Saha on Wednesday took oath as chief minister of the sensitive border state of Tripura. Eight more ministers, including Ratan Lal Nath, Pranajit Singha Roy, Santana Chakma, Tinku Roy and Bikash Debbarma were also sworn in by Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda as well as Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma were among the dignitaries present on the occasion.

However, behind the rosy picture, BJP must acknowledge the fact how Manik Saha albeit very little time, managed to steer all controversies and bickerings and kept his flock together and despite the fact that the BJP and its alliance were down from its last time tally of 44 to 33 seats this time, managed to snatch the thunder in a keenly fought Assembly polls.

Manik Saha had been made chief minister earlier in 2022, replacing Biplab Kumar Deb, in a brand re- newal exercise after it was found that his popularity rating was plummeting on account of the poor law and order situation in Tripura’s hinterland.

The BJP brought in Manik Saha as the chief minister in May last year. That was just months after he made it to the Rajya Sabha as a BJP member.

Just in March, Manik Sahah became the first BJP leader from Tripura to get elected to the Rajya Sabha.

Manik Saha’s not being a veteran politician helped him get acceptance among the common people of Tripura, most political pundits feel.

In January, Chief Minister Manik Saha had operated upon a 10-year-old boy for oral cystic lesion. He emerged from the operating room in January and declared “There was no difficulty in performing the surgery though it was after a long gap. The patient is in good condition now.” And it also now looks that the BJP’s surgery in Tripura worked out well too!

And understandably, after the northeast Assembly results were out, Holi had arrived “earlier” in Tripura for the BJP, but the celebrations were not that boisterous for the Saffron might especially with the emergence of the Tipra Motha!

A recap of the last elec-

Denting The Ipta

tion results would reveal that the Saffron might may have maintained its winning streak, but the results will present the Big Picture clearly to one and all.

The Tripura Assembly has 60 seats. The BJP managed to get 32 seats and its ally IPFT one seat. CPM bagged 11 and the Congress just three. The Tipra Motha Party managed to get 13 seats and emerged as the secondbiggest party. However, the 2018 Assembly polls saw the BJP-led NDA win 44 of the 60 seats.

THE COMPLEX TEXTURE

In Tripura there are around 12 to 16 seats with a considerable amount of mixed population and the tribal population in these seats roughly range between 20 and 30 per cent. Taking a shrewd move this election, Tipra Motha jumped onto the poll bandwagon to garner the support of around 8,000 to 10,000 votes in these segments thus denting the fortunes of IPTA and the Left heavily! Of course, the IPTA seemed to be a bigger loser.

If you take a closer look at the results, the breakup will reveal that in 2018 BJP won 36 seats on its own and the IPTA bagged the rest to take the NDA tally to 44. With the emergence of Tipra Motha, all that is history “now”, IPTA has won in 1 while BJP, too, had to remain satisfied with a lesser score than last time.

However, BJP’s timely intervention and removal of Biplab Deb as its CM is seen as an astute masterstroke by the central leadership as political analysts believe that in the remaining few months to the runup to the 2023 polls, the