BJP troubleshooters in Tripura after CM Biplab Deb embarrasses Amit Shah with Nepal, Sri Lanka comment

Last night, Jamwal and Kulkarni met with the Chief Minister and other party leaders and discussed organisational issues, ongoing squabble between two factions of the party, dissidence against the Chief Minister and infighting among the workers in different parts of the state.

“Jamwal's sudden visit draws significance as he reached the state without notice, just a day after official complaints from Nepal and Sri Lanka. Chief Minister's controversial comments has put BJP, especially,Union Home Minister Amit Shah on a tight spot. Moreover, while referring to Shah's comments, Biplab mentioned that Jamwal was present in the discussion on BJP’s expansion plan beyond boundaries,” said a senior leader.

BJP leaders remained unavailable for comments on the party's stand over the issue and the discussion points with Jamwal. Neither Deb nor his party has come out with a clarification over the controversy.

However, a section of Biplab's followers claimed in the social media that he was ‘misinterpreted' by the media as he told the party men about ‘extension of political philosophy of integrated humanism’ in those countries.

The opposition CPM has come down heavily on Biplab Deb and the Centre. Former Lok Sabha MP from Tripura Jitendra Chowdhury claimed that Deb's comments must be having some truth and if it hadn't been so, Amit Shah or the Centre would have tried to control the damage caused to India's relationship with Nepal and Sri Lanka with his controversial remark.

“Had Amit Shah not said anything to his party leaders regarding Nepal and Sri Lanka, which was referred by Tripura CM – wouldn't he deny the statement before the matter went to international community? Even after five days of the statement and formal complaint from the countries in question, neither BJP nor the Central government has taken any action,” he said

He alleged that under Modi’s rule India lost friendship with many neighbours.

"India's relation with Nepal and Sri Lanka has been strained in the past one year and needed positive action to even out the differences and maintain the historical relationship with those countries. Instead, Chief Minister of Tripura is doing the reverse, quoting the home minister of the country while making controversial statements regarding India's neighbours,"he alleged.

Chowdhury also observed that the Centre should clarify how Modi government made Bangladesh and Bhutan self-reliant (Atmanirbhar) and how the budget  would help SAARC countries to be Atmanirbhar, which Biplab Deb claimed in the context of Nepal and Sri Lanka in .

Biplab Deb on Feb 13, while speaking on the positive aspects of the budget presented by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, said, “I remember when Amit Shah was the national president of BJP, sometime in 2018, in a meeting in the state guest house, had told Ajay Jamwal that BJP had a long way to go because Nepal and Sri Lanka were still left, when Jamwal expressed satisfaction over BJP’s growth in India.”