42-month-old Biplab Kumar Deb led the BJP-IPFT government was shocked on Tuesday. In the first cabinet reshuffle, it introduced a 40-year-old business administration graduate and the most expressive youth idol, Susanta Chowdhury, and two other BJP lawmakers. In addition, Chowdhury, one of the oldest BJP members in Tripura, Ramprasad Pal, elected from Suryamaninagar near Agartala and Bhagaban Das elected from Pabiacherra SC reserved seat of Unakoti district of North Tripura, also obtained the cabinet. But because one ministerial post is still vacant, and the latest increase, the number of cabinet members has risen to 11.
Neither the prime minister nor the ruling People’s Party clarified the reasons for keeping cabinet positions vacant, although their coalition partner IPFT has been asking for an additional cabinet position. Currently, BJP has nine ministers, two of whom are from scheduled tribes, and IPFT has two ministers belonging to the ST community.
Chowdhury and Barman close to each other
Chowdhury is known as a close partner of Sudip Roy Barman, who has been seeking to impeach Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb for more than a year. But two and a half months ago, Deb brought him back from the Sudip brigade and praised his achievements for leaving a deep impression on young and educated people.
He won the constituency of Majlishpur, which was ruled and influenced by the CPM. In the 2018 elections, he defeated Manik Dey, a former senior minister in the left-wing government, with every advantage. This was the first attempt at electoral politics. Shortly after Sudip Roy Barman retired, Chowdhury was allegedly excluded and, after a while, became hostile towards Deb.
Voice raise against Deb
Similarly, since Deb became party chairman in 2016, Ramprasad Pal has been hostile, even though Pal enjoys a majority of support. Subsequently, he encountered obstacles in obtaining Suryamaninagar’s nomination and remained isolated from the party. A year ago, he also raised his voice against Deb like Sudip Roy Barman. For the past six months, he has been observing the post of party chairman. Although he has been assured, he has not yet fulfilled it. Finally, under the intervention of the BJP’s central leadership, Pal was sworn in as minister of Deb’s cabinet. But sources said Pal was unhappy and was still fighting for the presidency.
Statement by Pal
After coming to know of his appointment, Pal posted on Monday, “A section of officers and white collar employees is conspiring to defame the government and dislodge it. The cabinet pretends to be sleeping… taking advantage of ineligible leadership, opportunists are… making money at the cost of our beloved party. The dedicated workers have been suffering, no one is there to take care of them.”
