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Feud in Tripura BJP, MLA seeks removal of education minister
A video went viral on social media recently where Tripura BJP MLA Arun Chandra Bhowmik was heard saying that education minister Ratan Lal Nath should be removed from the state cabinet
An internal rift within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) surfaced in Tripura after a party legislator sought education minister Ratan Lal Nath’s removal from the state cabinet alleging his poor performance.
A video went viral on social media recently where BJP MLA Arun Chandra Bhowmik was heard saying that Nath should be removed as he insulted him while he went to speak regarding transfer of two faculty members from a college without providing an alternative.
“He misbehaved with me. Education ministry should be taken away from him. We have highly educated persons...like Sushanta Chowdhury (information minister) or our Assembly speaker Ratan Chakraborty. Someone like them should hold the ministry,” Bhowmik said.
Later on Saturday evening, he sought an apology for his comments but said hat his comments were for a better education system.
“ I seek apology if anyone is hurt by my words. Actually, chief minister requested me to do so. But I stick to my comments for a better education system in the state. A person who can give his full concentration to make a better education system shall be given the responsibility of the ministry,” he said.
Similar kind of rifts within the party became visible two months ago after Biplab Kumar Deb was replaced by Dr. Manik Saha as chief minister and this invited chaos in the party.
The BJP formed its government for the first time in the state in 2018 in alliance with the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) removing the Marxist government that ruled for two decades. Currently, the BJP has 36 legislators in the Assembly and IPFT has eight.
A year after in power, health minister Sudip Roy Barman was dropped from the cabinet due to his alleged differences with the then chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb. Roy Barman, this February, switched over to the Congress along with another legislator, Asish Kumar Saha.
Remained with Congress for a long time, both of them left the party to join the Trinamool Congress in 2016 and a year later, they moved to the saffron party.
Earlier in 2020, the BJP in Tripura witnessed differences after a large group of party workers raised slogans of ‘ Biplab hatao, Tripura bachao’ to replace Biplab Deb from his chief minister’s post when Vinod Sonkar, who was made the party’s state observer, arrived in Agartala for the first time.
The news of differences also reached the BJP central leadership after a delegation of BJP legislators led by Sudip Roy Barman met party chief JP Nadda to speak against the governance of Biplab Deb.
Meanwhile, reacting to the two cross voting in the recently held Presidential election, BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharya said, “ We don’t think that any of our MLAs cross-voted. As two additional votes went in favour of the Opposition, our senior leaders will look into it. Even we have not discussed about the issue with our alliance partner.”
IPFT minister Prem Kumar Reang said that they are yet to discuss the issue.
