BJP will sweep Tripura polls; communists who were ‘mazboot’ are now ‘majboor’: Biplab Deb to News18

After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) posted a stunning victory in Left bastion Tripura in the 2018 assembly elections, it appointed first-time MLA Biplab Deb as the chief minister. However, in May 2022, it replaced him with Manik Saha. Deb is now a Rajya Sabha member and his party’s Haryana affairs incharge.

With the BJP looking to retain power in Tripura in the February 16 elections for the state’s 60 assembly seats, in an exclusive interview with CNN-News18, Deb spoke about his assessment of the situation on the ground, the various allegations by the opposition, and how he sees his role in the party. Edited excerpts:

What is your feeling about the elections?

All the people of the Northeast have now started dreaming of a better future. In 2018, we made history in Tripura by overthrowing the Left. In the past 5 years, we have worked hard and we have given development everywhere. The people want to make their future better and more stable. Therefore, I think the people will vote for us.

The law and order situation has been bad since the BJP taking power, starting from the Lenin statue wrecking, and it continues, says the opposition. What’s your view?

The Lenin statue did not break under our government. We took oath on March 10, 2018. This incident happened when Manik Sarkar was the caretaker chief minister. He should know.

After that, a lot of party offices were razed, says the opposition.

They all occupied government land and built party offices. We razed those offices and returned that to the government. They went to court and got defeated. This is a false narrative of communists. Communists who were “mazboot” have become “majboor”. They are not even contesting 60 seats.

You spoke about law and order. The parameter of law and order is women’s security. Tripura has a huge number of women in politics, 10 per cent women in force, and crime against women has dropped by 25 per cent. This shows that women are safe here.

You are not chief minister. Do you feel bad about that?

Who am I? I did not have any identity. The party made me state president. I could not do much for my party but I am young. I will give my life and work for this party. I was a common man and the party gave me a ticket. I was a first-time MLA, they made me chief minister, and then a Rajya Sabha member. I look after Haryana. How much more will they do for me? I can give my life for the party.

What do you have to say to Tipra Motha?

Motha has to rely on Modiji. We are doing tribal development. You can see the road and railway work that has been done in this area. A road from here goes till Myanmar. The people know that; let’s wait for the results.

How many seats do you expect?

I am not an astrologer, so I can’t say. But we know the BJP will sweep the polls.

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