In a major political development ahead of the upcoming municipal elections, veteran Kailashahar politician Nitish Dey has resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), announcing his decision at a press conference on Wednesday.
Dey, a four-time councilor of the Kailashahar Municipal Council, outgoing Vice-Chairman and member of the BJP's Tripura State Committee, also declared that he would permanently retire from active politics.
Addressing the media at the office premises of Unakoti Kalakshetra in Kailashahar on Wednesday afternoon, Dey launched a scathing attack on the party leadership, particularly targeting Minister Tinku Roy and members of his family. He alleged that the BJP's organizational functioning in Kailashahar had been taken over by family-centric politics, leaving no importance for ordinary and dedicated party workers.
Dey alleged that the party was being run according to the wishes of Minister Tinku Roy, while old and committed workers who had worked tirelessly to bring the BJP to power in 2018 were being systematically sidelined. He described the past five years as the most difficult period of his political career, claiming that he had repeatedly faced allegations, internal disputes and humiliation but received no justice despite bringing the issues to the attention of senior leadership.
He also levelled serious allegations of irregularities and commission-based dealings in municipal affairs and various development projects. According to Dey, local party leaders, including Mandal-level office-bearers, were being ignored, with decisions being taken unilaterally by the minister.
In an especially strong attack, Dey questioned Minister Tinku Roy's connection with Kailashahar, describing him as an outsider. He alleged that outsiders had been controlling and exploiting Kailashahar since 1978. Referring to former minister and CPI(M) leader Tapan Chakraborty, who represented the Chandipur Assembly constituency during the Left Front regime, Dey alleged that both Chakraborty and Tinku Roy had contributed to the deterioration of Kailashahar's condition.
Dey further accused Minister Tinku Roy of allegedly running an illegal commission-based network in government contracts worth crores of rupees. He claimed that the alleged commission business was widely known among the people of Kailashahar.
Explaining his decision to leave politics, Dey said that despite serving the BJP honestly for years, he could no longer compromise his self-respect. He declared that he had no intention of contesting elections or joining any other political party.
"I will never work for any political party again. I have decided to retire from politics permanently. If necessary, I will sell vegetables by the roadside from tomorrow to earn my livelihood, but I will live with dignity and self-respect," he said.
Taking a further swipe at the minister, Dey alleged that had he indulged in flattery and tried to please Tinku Roy, he too could have accumulated wealth worth crores of rupees. However, he maintained that he had never engaged in such practices and would never do so in the future.
Claiming that he had maintained complete honesty during his association with the BJP, Dey challenged anyone to prove that he had ever taken even a single rupee from anyone for getting work done. He also stated that he had never undertaken any government contract during his tenure in the party and did not even own an insurance policy in his name.
Criticizing the present state of the BJP, he said that the party's original ideology and principles had been severely compromised.
Dey also recounted his earlier political journey, including his association with the CPI (M). He was once a prominent local leader of the party and had served as a councillor of the Kailashahar Municipal Council twice during the Left Front regime.
According to his account, following the defeat of CPI(M) candidate Mobassar Ali in the 2013 Assembly elections in Kailashahar, some party workers and relatives of the defeated candidate allegedly attempted to attack him at the party office on the day of counting. He claimed that he managed to escape and save his life. He further alleged that an attempt was made to attack his residence that night, forcing him to flee with his family under the cover of darkness amid fears of a possible attack on his life.
Following the incident, Dey left the CPI(M) and contested the 2015 municipal elections as an Independent candidate. He won from the ward where former minister Tapan Chakraborty had his residence.
In 2016, Dey joined the BJP along with several thousand supporters in the presence of former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb and then BJP state in-charge Sunil Deodhar. He subsequently contested the 2018 Assembly elections as the BJP candidate from Kailashahar but lost by a narrow margin.
After the BJP came to power in Tripura in 2018, Dey became Vice-Chairman of the Kailashahar Municipal Council following by-elections to several council seats in 2019. He later won the 2021 municipal elections as a BJP candidate and continued as Vice-Chairman.
Dey's resignation is being viewed as a significant setback for the ruling BJP ahead of the municipal elections. Political observers believe that his departure could have wider repercussions for the party's organisational strength in Kailashahar, particularly amid reports of prolonged factional infighting within the local unit.
Dey also warned that the alleged influence of outsiders and the continuing internal conflicts could lead to serious confrontations in the area in the coming days, holding those he described as outsiders responsible for any such eventuality.
His dramatic exit has once again brought the BJP's internal organisational differences in Kailashahar into the spotlight, with the possible political consequences likely to become clearer in the run-up to the civic polls.