Manik Saha Tripura's new CM, as Biplab Deb steps down

New Delhi: After Biplap Kumar Deb put in his papers yesterday, BJP leader Manik Saha has sworn in as the11th chief minister of Tripura on Sunday.

Biplap resigned a year ahead of assembly polls in the state. The legislature party meeting held at the official residence of the CM chose Saha as the new leader.

Saha left Congress in 2016 to join BJP and in 2020 he became the state BJP president.

Following Deb's replacement a scuffle broke out among MLAs after Ram Prasad Paul protested, sources told PTI.

Biplap Kumar Deb's rise and fall were rather quick, after he emerged in BJP's state politics at the age of 48.

Returning from Delhi on Saturday, he resigned most obviously on the instruction of BJP national leadership, according the Indian Express.

Emerging from his family's Sangh Parivar background, Deb became the head of BJP's outreach programme, Maha Sampark Abhiyan in 2015.

His energetic campaign impressed BJP's leadership, making him BJP state president in 2016.

According to the Indian Express, he managed to bring in former congress leaders and disgruntled communists, posing a challenge to the ruling Left.

The Left had to face an entirely new political challenge, which became all the more daunting after the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura supported BJP.

His organisational skills apart, Deb faced issues of having not enough experienced hands in the ministry.

Alongside, he earned more media attention for his gaffes including his statement Sanjay had narrated the Mahabharata war to blind king Dhritarashtra using Internet technology.

Analysts are curious about Deb's new role in Tripura politics after stepping down as chief minister.