Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigned actively in Tripura urging voters to give BJP a chance to govern the state. The voters gave a resounding win to the saffron party believing in Modi’s promise to transform the state on the development front.
The BJP then made Biplab Deb the first saffron party chief minister of Tripura, which has historically been governed by the Left parties. Within a few weeks of serving as the state’s chief minister, Biplab Deb has done very little in reciprocating the voters’ confidence in his party. He’s been more in news for utterly stupid and sexist remarks instead.
First he courted controversy by making extraordinarily insane comments that internet and satellite existed even during the Mahabharat period, which is a legendary narrative of the Kurukṣetra War, believed to have been fought somewhere in 8th and 9th century BC. Biplab, which in Bengali means revolution, became an object of ridicule even by his own educated supporters.
However, unfazed by public ridicule over his internet in Mahabharat remarks, the young chief minister of Tripura, has found himself amidst another controversy by his equally crazy statement on Miss World Diana Hayden, who won the coveted beauty title in 1997. Questioning the rationale behind crowning Diana as the Miss World, Deb said that she wasn’t the face of Indian beauty, but Aishwarya Rai was.
“Whoever contested the international beauty pageants won. For five consecutive years, we won the Miss World/Miss Universe awards. Diana Hayden won it too. Do you think she should have won the title?” Deb was quoted by PTI.
Deb’s controversial remarks have evoked another round of angry reactions from journalists, activists and even known supporters of the BJP. Many detected bigotry in Deb’s statement. Journalist Liz Mathew asked, “Dear @BJPBiplab, My name is Liz Mathew and I belong to Kerala. Will I be able to call myself an Indian and represent my country?’
Another journalist Seema Goswami felt that Deb’s statement had made him successfully qualify as the finalist for the ‘Ugly Indian competition.’ She wrote, “Not only is Diana Hayden a bonafide Indian beauty, Tripura CM Biplab Deb qualifies as finalist for the Ugly Indian competition. And no, that’s not a reference to his looks, but to what lies beneath.”
Former Gujarat IPS officer, Sanjiv Bhat, wondered ‘How come all the morons invariably gravitate towards the BJP?’ Activist Kavita Krishnan was even more scathing when she wrote, “Tripura CM Biplab Deb being a) stupid, b) sexist and c) communal at the same time.”
And the condemnation kept pouring in for the young chief minister with whose help PM Modi had envisaged to transform Tripura. While campaigning in Tripura, Modi had famously said, “people of Tripura have been wearing a wrong ‘Manik’ (gemstone in reference to the then Chief Minister Manik Sarkar) which should be replaced by a ‘HIRA (diamond)’, H-Highway, I=Iways R=Roads A=Airways.”
Many wondered if this is the diamond that Modi had promised the people of Tripura.
Modi’s HIRA, Tripura CM Biplab Deb strikes once again: Aishwarya Rai face of Indian women, not Diana Hayden https://t.co/CvYFhqPeek
— Sushant Singh (@SushantSin) April 27, 2018
I wonder if Modi’s HIRA and Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb considers his party colleague and C3ntral minister KJ Alphons as representing Indian culture and national character. #modishiras
— Mandeep Singh Bajwa (@MandeepBajwa) April 27, 2018
Going by Biplab Deb’s logic I guess the only person worthy of getting a Miss world title should be those poor and marginalised people who are forever dealing with mud and muck. But sadly that never happens Mr CM. I guess people must be missing Manik and cursing Hira now.
— Arijit Bose (@taurianbose) April 27, 2018