The Political Trapeze: Why Tripura has never been short of surprises
Politics, they say, is the greatest circus of human ambition — and if there is one place that has repeatedly proved its mastery in the art of political trapeze, it is Tripura.
The latest drama over the unusual political “marriage” between the relatively unknown NCPI and a breakaway group of Trinamool Congress MPs has already triggered a flood of opinions. Analysts are debating constitutional provisions, political morality and the anti-defection law. But those familiar with Tripura’s political history know that this is hardly the first time the state has witnessed such a high-wire performance.
Tripura has seen this constitutional acrobatics before — and with impressive timing.
Remember 2016? The Trinamool Congress entered the Tripura Assembly without winning a single election. Yes, that happened. And then, before the 2018 Assembly elections even arrived, the BJP performed a similar political magic trick and found its way into the state legislature.
In both cases, political parties managed to place their representatives inside the Assembly before voters actually gave them a direct electoral ticket. Democracy, it appeared, had found a shortcut lane.
For those who remember, this was the era when the Trinamool Congress was riding high in West Bengal. Leaders from Kolkata were regularly visiting Tripura with the ambitious mission of expanding the party’s footprint. At that time, Tripura’s political battlefield was largely dominated by the Left Front and the Congress. The BJP was still a minor player.
The Congress, meanwhile, was going through one of its periodic internal dramas — a tradition almost as old as the party itself. Decisions from Delhi, politely called “high command decisions”, often descended upon the state unit. Observers were sent, reports were prepared, leaders were selected — and, naturally, those who were left out often had their own theories about how the process worked.
Adding to the Congress’ troubles was the understanding between the Left Front and the Congress in West Bengal, which many Congress leaders in Tripura saw as a political nightmare. The question was simple: how does one defeat a powerful Left machine?
Then came the great political migration.
Almost the entire senior Congress leadership in Tripura, except a few prominent names like Samir Barman, Birajit Sinha and Gopal Roy, began moving towards the Trinamool Congress. The suspension of veteran Congress leader and former Speaker Biswabandhu Sen by state Congress president Birajit Sinha over alleged anti-party activities only added fuel to the fire.
In the meantime another Congress MLA Jiten Sarkar left the party went happily to his old party –CPI(M).
Soon, six Congress MLAs — Sudip Roy Barman, Asish Saha, Biswabandhu Sen, Dibachandra Rankhal, Pranjit Singh Roy and Dilip Sarkar — joined the Trinamool Congress.
For the Trinamool leadership in Bengal, it was an unexpected political jackpot. A team arrived from Kolkata, led by Mukul Roy, to welcome the new entrants. A grand procession was held in Agartala. The party had suddenly acquired a legislative presence without fighting an election.
The six MLAs then informed Assembly Speaker Ramendra Debnath that they were no longer Congress legislators and should be recognised as Trinamool representatives. Technically, because of the numbers involved and the provisions of the anti-defection law, the political trapeze act was completed successfully.
The Congress, which once had 10 MLAs, was reduced to three MLAs.
For a brief moment, it looked like Trinamool had discovered the formula to challenge the Left Front.
But politics has a habit of changing scripts faster than politicians can print posters.
Within a year, the Trinamool experiment began losing momentum. The party’s leadership in Bengal never appeared fully committed to building a long-term organisation in Tripura. A few colourful leaders arrived, gave fiery speeches about removing the Left Front, and then disappeared into political history.
The former Congress leaders who had joined Trinamool were experienced politicians. They quickly realised that defeating the Left Front with a newly imported political vehicle would not be easy. A new platform was required.
The search began.
There was Subal Bhowmik’s Tripura Gramin Congress, but political compatibility remained a challenge. A party built around one strong leader naturally created questions about how much space others would get.
Then came 2017.
The BJP, under the leadership of Biplab Kumar Deb and with organisational support from Sunil Deodhar, began creating a political wave. Several Congress leaders — including Surajit Datta, Jahar Saha, Ratan Chakraborty, Dr Manik Saha and Dr Ashok Sinha — moved towards the BJP. Many other influential figures also joined.
Suddenly, the BJP looked like the vehicle capable of challenging the Left Front.
Naturally, the six Congress-turned-Trinamool legislators also opened communication channels with the BJP.
Initial discussions suggested that state BJP leaders were comfortable inducting five of the Trinamool MLAs. But there appeared to be hesitation regarding Sudip Roy Barman.
Then the matter reached the desk of BJP president Amit Shah.
His calculation was reportedly straightforward: the 2018 election battle had to become a direct BJP versus Left Front contest. No third force should divide anti-Left votes.
The political strategy resembled corporate consolidation — remove competition, absorb smaller players and create a stronger brand.
And that is exactly what happened.
Subal Bhowmik’s Tripura Gramin Congress merged into the BJP. The six Trinamool legislators also joined the BJP and approached the Assembly Speaker with the familiar political request:
“We are now BJP MLAs. Please provide separate seating arrangements.”
And just like that, the BJP too entered the Tripura Assembly before winning the election.
The rest, of course, became history.
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Therefore, when today’s political trapeze artists perform their latest act involving mergers, symbols and claims of authenticity, Tripura cannot pretend to be surprised. The state has watched enough political gymnastics to qualify as an unofficial training ground for constitutional acrobatics.
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In the grand theatre of Indian politics, Tripura may not always have the largest stage — but when it comes to unexpected political performances, it rarely misses a show.
