Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb has time and again found mired in controversy for his bizarre take on a slew of topics. In the past, he had rewritten history with claims that Internet and satellite communication had existed in the days of the Mahabharata, and on another occasion, opined that former Miss World Diana Hayden did not represent Indian beauty.
Now, years later, he once again has politicians across party lines baffled.
Addressing a gathering of party workers in Agartala on Sunday, Deb spoke about a meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah while the latter had been the BJP party President. Reminiscing about the interaction, he explained that it had come against the backdrop of the party coming to power in several states.
"In response, the minister said that Nepal and Sri Lanka are still left. He said that we have to expand the party to Sri Lanka and Nepal. We have to win there too," Deb recalled.
Needless to say, many have been startled by the comment, what with Nepal and Sri Lanka being different countries wholly unrelated to India. And while Opposition leaders have pounced on the remarks, Deb is also facing flak from his own party leaders. While we're not sure whether the comment was meant to be a joke, politicians as a whole do not appear to have found it funny.
"Was the CM joking? Or sarcastic? He could not be serious," tweeted BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy. In a later post, he appeared to have pondered the topic further and found it at least somewhat acceptable.
"There is no need to slam the CM for that remark. Communist Party was first founded by Lenin in USSR and in many country later opened "fraternal branches" called Communist Party, including in India, whose leaders attended meeting in Moscow under the chairmanship of USSR CP," he told one Twitter user.
Opposition leaders were far less charitable. "Wonder what MEA thinks about such ridiculous comments coming from someone who is not merely a BJP member but also appointed CM of Tripura," asked fellow Rajya Sabha MP, Priyanka Chaturvedi of Shiv Sena.
The Congress too joined the debate, tweeting a sarcastic jibe about such "stupid statements".
"Our former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi sacrificed his life restoring peace in Sri Lanka. Nepal is a peaceful country. The PM, the Defence Minister must intervene when anybody talks about these countries in such a manner," Jharkhand Congress working president Rajesh Thakur was quoted as saying.
