The first non communist Chief Minister of Tripura, Biplab Kumar Deb, has been in the news, albeit for wrong reasons. Despite being one of the key people behind the overthrow of the communist regime which ruled Tripura for more than two decades, all Biplab Deb is known for, according to the Indian media, is a flurry of ‘insensitive statements’ in the recent past.
While some of them are really naïve, given the lack of proper evidence to back up the same, others are misquoted deliberately by the notorious media to serve their malicious agenda. However, it seems that there is more to Biplab Deb than what meets the eye. His naïve statements aside, he is also doing his homework as an able Chief Minister with a vision. Though he has made some statements which could’ve been avoided, Biplab is now thoroughly into cleaning up the mess Tripura was reeling under for the past 25 years. Be it striking hard on the corrupt, or regulating the nefarious designs of the illegal immigrants, you name it and Biplab is cleaning it up.
The very first course correction that Biplab has achieved in the very short span of his debut term is the removal of the Marxist adulterated textbooks from the state run schools and colleges, introducing the NCERT prescribed books instead. Chief Minister Deb has also promised that the said books will include chapters on Tripura’s history.
To quote him, “…When I say education, I mean quality education and not just numbers. The Communists only wanted the people of Tripura to study Mao (Zedong) and forget our Hindu kings. They removed Mahatma Gandhi from textbooks in government-run schools. I am going to implement NCERT syllabus in all these schools which will also have chapters on Tripura’s history…”
If this was not enough to get the momentum going, Chief Minister Deb took a step further, emulating his compatriot in Assam, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, in terms of making a significant dent on the illegal immigrants and their criminal pursuits. For the first time in the history of the state, the government has decided to set up a crime branch, which would exclusively deal with anti social elements, especially the drug peddlers and the Rohingya terrorists, who’ve caused great nuisance in the North East. That the crime branch is being created only now speaks volumes about how concerned his predecessors were about the welfare of the Tripura state.
Even the Rose Valley chit fund scam, which involved most of the CPI M top brass from Tripura, including the ex-CM Manik Sarkar, has been hit hard by the decision of handing over all the 74 cases in connection with the same to CBI. Keeping up to their poll promise of ensuring a CBI investigation on the same, the CM has officially handed over the cases to CBI, with an aim of a more detailed, transparent investigation into the rampant corruption. Needless to say, most of the accused have already developed cold feet, accusing CBI of working against them with a political motivation.
Actions speak a lot louder than words. While we don’t deny that Biplab Deb is a man of too many words, which sometimes lands him in trouble, he is also a man of action, who doesn’t hesitate in standing up for what is right, even if it makes others unhappy!