Meet Biplab Deb, the CM frontrunner in Tripura

Born in a middle class family at Rajdhar Nagar village in Gomati district on November 25, 1971, Biplab Deb completed his graduation from Udaipur College in the state in 1999.

His father Haradhan Deb was a local leader of the Jan Sangh. Biplab Deb left for Delhi soon after his graduation to join the RSS. The 48-year-old leader served the right-wing organization for around 16 years, under the guidance of Gobinda Acharya and Krishnagopal Sharma, two prominent Sangh leaders. In 2015, he returned to Tripura and assumed the charge of Central Jan Sampark Pramukh for the BJP.

Biplab Deb was declared the state president of the BJP on January 6, 2016. He replaced Sudhindra Dasgupta, the longest-serving chief of the party in Tripura. His wife Niti is an officer at State Bank of India. The couple has a son and a daughter. On a few media reports about him being a gym instructor before taking the political plunge, Biplab Deb told PTI: "During a television interview, I said I used to visit gym for exercise, but now I do not get any time for exercise. I am surprised how media reported that I was once a gym instructor."Biplab Deb had yesterday said he was ready for the top job. "I am ready to take the responsibility. I will not run away from taking any responsibility," he had told reporters in New Delhi and had added that it was up to the party leadership to take a final call.

The BJP demolished the Left citadel in Tripura yesterday, winning a two-third majority with ally IPFT, and ending 25 years of uninterrupted rule of the CPI(M)-led rule in the state.