Completely ignored by the party leadership and facing severe erosion of their relevance in the state political spectrum over the last two years disgruntled BJP MLA Sudip Roy Barman and his close confidante , another MLA, Asish Saha , now embarked on a state tour, ostensibly, to make their presence felt, once again.
Close on the heels of their visit to different places, the two MLAs visited Kalyanpur on Saturday and met some of their followers.
Roy Barman had already declared that he would not fight as the BJP candidate in the next assembly elections. This announcement did not surprise anyone as it was by now almost a foregone conclusion that they would not be given nominations as BJP candidates this time. The writing on the wall was too glaring to ignore. However, it was not yet clear- to both the common people and seemingly to Roy Barman himself also – as to how he would play the politics in the coming days- especially in the next one year or so. Grapevines said, since in all intents and purposes his and Saha’s future in BJP was a closed chapter –and they are virtually left in the cold –Roy Barman and Saha would be left with no other option but to return to their good ol’ Congress.
Roy Barman had in the last Civic Bodies elections tried to test the water by doing some politics in favour of Trinamool Congress and also fielding his followers as Trinamool Congress candidates against the BJP nominees. But all these came a cropper and, as such, his own political image did not shine very bright for the Trinamool Congress too.
Besides, Trinamool Congress itself failed to make much of an inroad as a political power to reckon with in Tripura- neither it could get expected vote support in the Civic bodies’ elections, nor it could as yet form a complete state unit to run the show. The stop-gap arrangements continued which only reduced Trinamool Congress prospect with every passing day. It would be really hard for the Trinamool Congress to gain the strength within one year to put up a decisive fight against the ruling and ‘formidable’ BJP.
Keeping the present status in mind , sources close to Roy Barman said, he was not considering joining Trinamool Congress.
So, to face the political winter two options were actually left for Roy Barman- either to join the Congress- though it was also in a very poor state- or to launch his own political party.
“He is now trying to understand what would be better option for him. As he tours the state it is not only that he seeks to understand the grievances that the BJP workers may have against the government and the party as well , but also to gather the opinion of his supporters before finally taking a plunge into a new venture”, said a close associate of Roy Barman.
Despite Congress’ poor position in the state Roy Barman was, sources said, hopeful that in case the party could fare well in the UP and other states in the ensuing elections, then there would be chances to revive it with new vigour. In fact, he was hopeful that Priyanka Gandhi might visit Tripura to hold a rally where he along with his friends would join the Congress.
But then there was still a catch – Barman family’s old bête noir Birajit Sinha, the present PCC president. Sinha given his past and political stand would never with an open arm accept Roy Barman who always tended to overwhelm and dictate the terms in parties he was in. Roy Barman’s entry would also inevitably trigger a fresh squabble and bickering among the perennially factional crisis ridden Congress. As it happened, recently Sinha did not show much interest or attached any importance to the suggestion of Roy Barman joining when aired before him by a media person.
As of today, Roy Barman himself too kept his cards close but did not hesitate to offer ambiguous indication for a showdown soon. Whenever the question about his political future was asked he dodged it diplomatically giving some opaque and oblique comments. But a politician and MLA like Roy Barman the showdown would definitely come soon. His political winter was already showing a freezing trend. However, if indications were anything, it would be only after UP and other four states’ elections.
(Courtesy Tripura Times)
