Manik Sarkar quits as CM after BJP drubs CPI(M) in Tripura polls

Agartala: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar submitted his resignation to Governor Tathagata Roy on Sunday a day after the CPI(M) was drubbed by a resurgent BJP in the Assembly polls.

Sarkar will continue as the chief minister until the new government is sworn in.

The BJP put up a spectacular show in Tripura on Saturday ending the 25-year-old reign of the Left Front government in the state.

Tripura is a done deal for the saffron party with Biplab Deb Kumar set to be the next chief minister.

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Sarkar, a CPI(M) politburo member, won from his Dhanpur seat, defeating his nearest rival, Pratima Bhowmick of the BJP. His party, however, bagged only 16 of the 59 seats. BJP bagged a total of 43 seats in alliance with the tribal party, Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT).

Four-time Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, with the lowest bank balance and a squeaky clean image, has ruled the state from 1998. The Left Front has ruled the state since 1993.

The Red Fort crumbled under an aggressive attack by the BJP that pushed all its frontliners into the campaign battle, charging the Left of sustained corruption, inability to develop the state and disappointing its aspirational youth by failing to provide opportunities.