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Manik Sarkar

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Manik Sarkar
Member of Polit Bureau,
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Incumbent
Assumed office
11 October 1998
Leader of the Opposition in Tripura
In office
9 March 2018 – 2 March 2023
Governor
Preceded byRatan Lal Nath
Succeeded byAnimesh Debbarma
9th Chief Minister of Tripura
In office
11 March 1998 – 8 March 2018
Governor
Preceded byDasarath Deb
Succeeded byBiplab Kumar Deb
Tripura State Secretary of the CPI(M)
In office
1993–1998
Member of Legislative Assembly, Tripura
In office
March 1998 – 2 March 2023
Preceded bySamar Choudhury
Succeeded byPratima Bhowmik
ConstituencyDhanpur
In office
1983–1988
Preceded byAjoy Biswas
Succeeded byBibhu Kumari Devi
ConstituencyAgartala
Personal details
Born (1949-01-22) 22 January 1949 (age 75)
Udaipur, Tripura State, India (now Tripura, India)
Political partyCPI(M)
SpousePanchali Bhattacharya
CabinetFourth Sarkar ministry

Manik Sarkar (born 22 January 1949) is an Indian communist politician who served as the Chief Minister of Tripura from March 1998 to March 2018. He is a Politburo member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).[1][2] In March 2008, he was sworn in as leader of Left Front, the Tripura coalition government.[3] In assembly elections held in 2013, he became the chief minister for the fourth consecutive time. He served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Tripura Legislative Assembly from 2018 to 2023. NDTV's article in 2018, proclaimed that back then, he was the poorest chief minister in India with bank balance of Rs. 2000 (~25 USD).

His affidavit for the 2018 Tripura Assembly election revealed that he is the chief minister with the least possessions among all his counterparts in India.[4][5][6]

Early life and background

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Manik Sarkar was born into a middle-class family.[7] His father, Amulya Sarkar, worked as a tailor, while his mother, Anjali Sarkar, was a State and later Provincial government employee.[8] Sarkar became active in student movements in his student days, and in 1968, at the age of 19, he became a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He was a candidate of the Students' Federation of India throughout his academic life at MBB College, from where he graduated with a B. Com. degree.[9] During his first year at the college there came the turbulent times of the food movement of 1967, campaigning against the policy of the then Congress government of Tripura, and Sarkar threw himself headlong into the related student struggle. His vigorous role in this mass movement led him to join the Communists.[10] Due to his early political exposure, he also became the General Secretary of the MBB College Student Union and was also made the Vice President of the Students' Federation of India. In 1972, at the early age of 23, he joined the State Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).[9]

Political career

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The Vice President, Shri Mohd. Hamid Ansari being received by the Chief Minister of Tripura, Shri Manik Sarkar, on his arrival at Agartala Airport, in Agartala, Tripura on September 25, 2013

Six years after being selected in the CPI (M) State Committee, Sarkar was included in the party state secretariat in the year 1978. This was also the year when the first Left Front government had taken control in Tripura.

In 1980, at the age of 31, he was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly from the Agartala constituency. This was the start of Manik Sarkar's leadership in his state.[11] At around the same time, he was appointed the Chief Whip of the CPI (M). His success as the Member of the Legislative Assembly returned in 1983, when he was elected to the Assembly from Krishnanagar, Agartala.[7] When the Left Front government took control in 1993, Sarkar was appointed the State Secretary of the CPI (M).

The biggest success came to Sarkar in 1998. At the age of 49, he became a member of the Politburo of the CPI (M), which is the principal policy-making and executive committee in a Communist party.[11][12] In the same year, he became the Chief Minister of the state of Tripura. Since then, he was elected to the same position four consecutive times in 20 years.[11] He is one of the very few chief Ministers in India who was in the office for so long. His party lost majority in the 2018 elections and he had to step down as a result.

It was noted that Sarkar did not contest the 2023 elections. He revealed that he had done so in order to pave way for younger leadership.

Personal life

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Sarkar is married to Panchali Bhattacharya, who was employed with the Central Social Welfare Board till she retired in 2011. He chooses to live in an old and a very small house that belonged to his great grandfather. He used to donate his entire salary that he received as a Chief Minister to his party and in return, got ₹ 5,000 per month as allowance.[13][14][15][16]

References

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  1. ^ List of Politburo Members Archived 7 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine from the 7th (1964) to the 18th Congress(2005)
  2. ^ List of Politburo and Central Committee members Archived 29 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine elected on the 19th Congress
  3. ^ 6th Left Front Govt Assumes Office Archived 28 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "With just Rs 2,410 in bank account, country's poorest CM Manik Sarkar turns even poorer after 4 terms".
  5. ^ "Manik Sarkar: Poorest CM in the country". The Times of India. 26 January 2013. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  6. ^ "National Commission for Scheduled Castes praises Tripura". India Today. PTI. 6 November 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Manik Sarkar: Chief Minister (CM) of Tripura". NationsRoot. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  8. ^ Shridhar Prasad, K. "Poorest Chief Minister Manik Sarkar". Bubble News. Archived from the original on 8 November 2014. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  9. ^ a b "Biography of Manik Sarkar". WinEnterance.com. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  10. ^ "Chief Minister | Tripura". Archived from the original on 11 September 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  11. ^ a b c "A Profile of Shri Manik Sarkar, Chief Minister, Tripura". Tripura Info. Archived from the original on 11 September 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  12. ^ "Politburo". Merriam Webster. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
  13. ^ "Manik Sarkar 'cleanest and poorest' CM". Deccan Herald. 26 January 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  14. ^ "India's poorest CM is poorer than his wife". The Hindu. PTI. 31 January 2018. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  15. ^ "Tripura CM Manik Sarkar is one of India's poorest CMs, has only Rs 2,410 in bank account - Firstpost". www.firstpost.com. February 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  16. ^ "Chandrababu Naidu is richest CM, Manik Sarkar poorest: Report - Times of India ►". The Times of India. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
Political offices
Preceded by Chief Minister of Tripura
12 December 1998 – 9 March 2018 		Succeeded by
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