Mukul Roy, who just joined the TMC, is in touch with several BJP leaders in Tripura. It seems he is desperate to prove his skills after leaving the BJP. He also spoke to Abhishek Banerjee on how to increase the TMC’s influence in other states.
According to TMC sources, Mukul is initiating talks with BJP leaders in Tripura. There has been dissatisfaction amongst a section of State BJP leaders for a long time regarding Biplab Kumar Deb’s governance style.
In October, the dissident MLAs of the ruling BJP in Tripura went to Delhi and held talks with BJP president J.P. Nadda. They expressed their grievances about the alleged “bad governance” in the state. A group of four MLAs representing the dissidents also informed him of the state’s political and organisational situation. Even then, the problem was not solved. TMC wants to take advantage of this.
Legislator Sudip Roy Barman, who had criticised Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on several occasions before being axed as Health Minister in June 2020, was not present at the meeting. He is considered the leader of the dissident group. Twenty-five of the 36 BJP MLAs of Tripura want proper reshuffling in the Council of Ministers.
Although Barman’s dismissal was cited as “provocation”, the causes of the dissidence ran deeper. Barman won his Assembly election five times as a Congress candidate and was the Opposition leader before quitting and joining the TMC in 2016 and thereafter the BJP. The central office-bearer’s alleged effort to uplift Barman failed. Deb had Narendra Modi’s and then BJP president Amit Shah’s backing. As a “compromise”, Jishnu Dev Varma — a tribal leader elected from the BJP — was appointed deputy Chief Minister.
Deb suspected Barman tried to sabotage the election of the BJP candidates from the two Lok Sabha seats which they won. After the election, Deb told the Agartala media: “Several conspiracies were hatched by the enemies inside the BJP. The party will take strict action against such persons.” Barman lost his job shortly thereafter.
At one point, Sudip Roy Barman left the Congress and joined the TMC holding Mukul’s hand. TMC also fought in the polls. But the result was not very convenient. Then the situation changed in Tripura. Before Mukul left TMC, the entire party in Tripura joined the BJP. Mukul and later Sabyasachi Dutta were in charge of Tripura on behalf of the party. Later these two TMC leaders joined the BJP. TMC said at the time that Mukul had sent them to the BJP.
This time the situation has changed again. According to TMC sources, Mukul has started talking to agitated BJP leaders in Tripura. One such leader said that the issues of the two states are different. There are no decisions at the moment.