The dissidence in the Tripura BJP legislative contingent that is posing an open challenge to chief minister Biplab Deb puts a question mark on the party’s strategy of wooing Congress leaders to its fold. The rebellion is being led by ex-Congressman Sudip Roy Barman who claims to have seven more MLAs with him, while there is suspicion that a few more legislators including a couple of ministers are sympathetic to his demands. However, BJP can be relieved that neither the dissidents nor ally IPFT has shown inclination to bring down the government.
The rebels have dubbed Deb an autocrat, holding too many departments with himself. Barman had fancied himself a chief ministerial candidate after BJP’s stunning victory in 2018 and was upset at Deb, a staunch partyman with an RSS and ABVP background, being chosen. The strategy of drawing defectors from Congress and other regional parties has been credited for BJP’s nationwide spread to the country’s east and northeast. BJP has also wooed away entrenched Congress leaders in states like Madhya Pradesh, Goa and Karnataka to bring down governments.
Read: Axe CM or give us bigger role, Tripura BJP rebels tell party
The Tripura developments come just after a similar rebellion against Manipur CM Biren Singh, a Congress import, which was stamped out with much difficulty. It could be a sign that the BJP, despite the iron grip of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, will have to live with the “Congress culture” of perpetual dissension. The tensions and jostling for positions between long-standing BJP workers and the new imports is a constant problem in Karnataka, MP, Goa, Kerala and some other states. But the flow of prominent Congress faces to BJP shows no sign of ebbing. How BJP manages these contradictions in the days ahead could determine the party’s future.
