AGARTALA: Claiming that the former chief minister of Tripura, Biplab Kumar Deb, was trying to run a "parallel administration" in the state, with convoy and choppers still at his service, the opposition Congress on Friday said people should get to know the actual reason for his decision to step down "as the cause furnished by the ruling BJP was hardly convincing".
The BJP was quick to hit back, stating that the grand old party was "levelling baseless allegations out of frustration".
Addressing a press meet, Congress leader Sudip Roy Barman, the former state health minister, said, "People are confused as to who the real chief minister is, Manik Saha or Biplab Kumar Deb.
The way Deb is moving around with a convoy of 10-12 vehicles and a chopper, it is actually very confusing.
"He (Deb) is still occupying the chief minister's official residence and enjoying all powers and facilities that comes with the post."
Roy Barman contended the district magistrates (DMs) and the superintendents of police (SPs) "are being forced" to receive Deb at airports or helipads, which the protocol does not permit.
"Deb is not entitled to get the security cover that he did as the chief minister. I request the DGP to immediately withdraw his security cover because he is now merely an MLA," the Congress leader pointed out.
Roy Barman, who resigned as MLA and quit the primary member of the BJP in February to join the Congress, also asked the saffron camp to clarify the exact reason behind Deb's sudden resignation.
"We came to know that Biplab Kumar Deb was asked to quit as chief minister. He was made to rush to Raj Bhavan to tender his resignation on May 14."
"The explanation that was given by Deb sounds unconvincing! At a programme in Sepahijala district, Deb had said he quit the post to strengthen the organisation. The person (Manik Saha), who appeared to be a failure as the party's state president, has now been made the administrative head of Tripura. People want to know the real reason behind the change of guard," the Congress leader maintained.
He added that all "illegal activities" of Deb during his tenure as the CM would soon be looked into.
Lashing out at Roy Barman, Subrata Chakraborty, the state BJP chief spokesperson, said that it is the Ministry of Home Affairs that takes a call on the scale of security provided to a person, and no one else should be interfering in such matters.
"The Ministry of Home Affairs, after considering threat perceptions, had given Y-plus category security to Deb when he became BJP state president in 2016. Therefore, it is the MHA which will decide what will be done next, no one else," he said.
He asserted that the Congress was pointing fingers at Deb out of "frustration and desperation".
"In BJP, there is no space for words like 'parallel administration'," he added.