North east is usually forgotten. But the BJP dreamt of changing that. Despite having won just 1.54% share of the popular vote in the 2013 Assembly Elections, they took aim at one the last bastions of leftist power - Tripura. A state where CPI (M) has been ruling for the past 25 years and which had a highly respected CM in Manik Sarkar.
And on March 3, 2018, they succeeded - spectacularly at that.
As noted historian and political commentator Ramachandra Guha observed in a tweet today: "...The BJP's rise in Tripura is astonishing. Regional parties (TDP,TRS,DMK) have quickly gone from zeroes to heroes jn their own state. But for a national party to so suddenly become so prominent in a state where they had no presence seems unprecedented."
Pollster Yashwant Deshmukh gave "full credit to BJP President Amit Shah for the Tripura win. Here is one Party President who has spent quality and quantity time meeting the polling booth level party worker on the ground for last three years.
"Tripura did not happen in one single day. Contrast?" he tweeted.
Noted journalist Shekhar Gupta termed it a "miracle".
Others were hunting for superlatives too.BJP’s rise in Tripura is a tribute to brilliant, committed & diligent political groundwork over 5 yrs. RSS & @rammadhavbjp have conjured up a miracle where BJP never existed & where the usual polarisation isn’t avbl
— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) March 3, 2018
For Barkha Dutt, the win was staggering.
Staggering victory of @BJP4India in #TripuraElection2018 where the party quite literally didn't exist in the last election. Squeezed out the Congress entirely, broke 25 year old Left stranglehold with old fashioned political groundwork led by @rammadhavbjp. congratulations!
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) March 3, 2018
Swapan Dasgupta, possibly the foremost pro-BJP voice among journalists, was extremely happy.
As a Bengali, I am extremely happy BJP has recovered its strong Bengali inheritance with its performance in Tripura. Ebar Bangla
— Swapan Dasgupta (@swapan55) March 3, 2018
