On the face of it the BJP has resolved the mystery over who would be Chief Minister of Tripura after the election of incumbent Dr. Manik Saha by the party’s legislature party group, but the political fate of Union Minister Pratima Bhowmik who also fought and won in these Assembly polls is still under a veil.
Ms. Bhowmik, one of the two MPs from Tripura was asked to contest the difficult Dhanpur seat, previously held by former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar of the CPI(M). The BJP’s slim margin of majority, in a House of 60 the party won 32 seats, barely over the half way mark, it is assumed that bypolls (if Ms. Bhowmik prefers to retain her Lok Sabha seat her berth in the Union Council of Ministers as a Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment) will not be preferred.
This leaves the very important question of how she will be accommodated in State politics and the BJP led government in Tripura. Senior sources in the BJP have said that there are attempts being made to get Ms. Bhowmik appointed Deputy Chief Minister, the swearing-in of the Mr. Saha is on Wednesday, the international day of women, a strong symbolic move, but there is no clarity as to whether that will actually happen.
The only thing that’s clear is that the BJP’s slim majority in the Tripura Assembly makes the possibility of Ms. Bhowmik retaining her Assembly seat far more probable than retaining her Lok Sabha berth. Technically, she has six months to make up her mind.
Within the BJP, while there is an acknowledgement that Dr. Saha’s continuation as Chief Minister has quietened the situation for some time within the State unit of the party, the slim majority and the presence of heavyweights of the party, including Ms. Bhowmik and former Chief Minister Biplab Deb will require deft handling and much political accommodation.
