Agartala, Sept 2 (UNI): The former minister and senior BJP legislator, Sudip Roybarman, on Thursday has become critical to Biplab Kumar Deb’s rule in Tripura while talking to a news channel here on Thursday.
He said, “I don’t want to be a puppet minister – just to enjoy VIP amenities cheating my people. I am five times MLA and have been in politics for the last 35 years. I have some respect and self-conviction. I fought the election with a BJP ticket because I loved Narendra Modi and wanted to do something good for the people but did not get the opportunity.”
A day after the expansion of the three-and-a-half-year Cabinet by inducting three ministers, Roybarman said there is no government functioning at all. “The thieves and officers have been running the show where ministers do not have minimum power and respect. Everything is concentrated on bureaucrats and the chief minister,” he observed.
“A single man show is displayed in the BJP-IPFT government without caring about the peoples’ sufferings and the poll promises of the party. The bureaucrats have been insulting the cabinet ministers but the Chief Minister is surprisingly silent,” Roybarman alleged.
The forest minister, Mevar Kr Jamatia, had called up the chief secretary to his chamber for holding some discussion related to his department. The chief secretary refused to come to the minister’s chamber and instead advised him (Mevar) to come to his chamber as he had no time, Roybarman alleged, adding is it the practice in democracy.
“This is not the only one, the officers with the indulgence and support of the Chief Minister insult the cabinet members now and then. None of the ministers had the guts to protest or take action against them, just because they wanted to be in the cabinet, he alleged adding that a section of all India service officers continuously abused the local civil service officers, which happened nowhere in the country.
“Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had invited me and requested me to join the cabinet. But I humbly refused – I shall not serve under Biplab Kumar Deb. I don’t like his policy and attitude towards our local people including his colleagues. I want to know the answer to why I was removed from the cabinet after one year – did I not perform or people didn’t like me,” he asked.
He along with four other BJP legislators and a group of veteran BJP leaders had held meetings with the representatives of all 60 constituencies of the state on Sunday where the voice against the chief minister and the party leaders was louder.
Roybarman said, “We are preparing a detailed report to the central leadership about the deteriorating condition of the party and the government based on the statements of grass-root level workers. None of the leaders here listens to the grass-root level workers, which generated public anger against the party but it has not yet been reported to Delhi. I am going to do it.”
Meanwhile, the expansion of the Cabinet has triggered a serious reaction among the MLAs.
