Guard of Change: The Hindu Editorial on BJP’s Curriculum Reform in Tripura

A sudden move by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had some people guessing. Manik Saha has been made the Chief Minister of Tripura in place of Biplab Kumar Deb.a northeastern state The party had won from the Left in 2018., Mr. Saha’s rise in the BJP, which he joined in 2016 after leaving the Congress, has been dramatic, and is largely due to Mr. Deb. The outgoing chief minister threw his weight behind Mr. Saha, who had also succeeded him as president of the BJP state unit. Public disapproval and rebellion within the BJP surrounded Mr. Deb, and he was forced to make way for Mr. Saha. Mr. Saha has inherited at least a part of the belongings of his predecessor. Some BJP MLAs have publicly expressed their displeasure over the decision. The new CM will be on tenterhooks until he quickly settles the party house, establishes his credentials independent of Mr. Deb, and improves public perception of the state government. In Uttarakhand, the BJP changed CMs thrice before the assembly elections earlier this year. Tripura assembly elections are nine months away, and the Guard of Change indicates the party’s assessment was in need of course correction. Mr. Deb is the sixth chief minister to be replaced by the BJP in the recent past, following Sarbananda Sonowal in Assam, BS Yediyurappa in Karnataka, Trivendra Singh Rawat And Tirath Singh Rawat in quick succession in Uttarakhand, and Vijay Rupani in Gujarat,

BJP takes all elections very seriously, but Tripura is special. The state was a Left Front stronghold for decades, until the BJP won the last assembly election, marking a unique ideological victory. Since then, the party has faltered; Two sitting MLAs, Sudip Roy Burman and Ashish Kumar Saha, quit the party in February to join the Congress, potentially signaling a fresh churn. A defeat next year could have ripple effects in other states, especially in the Northeast, and the party wants to avoid it at any cost. That said, the rise of Mr. Saha, who has not risen through the ranks of the Sangh Parivar, shows that the BJP is also on the rise. It is true that Hindutva rhetoric has not waned, but perhaps it has become more opportunistic in using leaders of other ideological stables. Mr. Saha is the fourth person to leave the Congress and become the Chief Minister of the BJP in a northeastern state. Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, one of them, is now an influential actor in the BJP’s plans. The BJP continues to draft leaders of other parties into leadership positions across the country. Ideological agnosticism is nothing to praise, but it would be nice if such crossovers lead to less polarized politics. There is no evidence of any such trend, but Tripura could be a start.