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Sunil Deodhar: RSS wizard behind BJP alliance's amazing leap from 1.3% to 50.5% votes in Tripura

NEW DELHI: The real, behind-the-scenes hero of the BJP's spectacular election victory in Tripura is 52-year-old RSS pracharak Sunil Deodhar. He planned the campaign with military precision, travelled to every corner of the state and mobilized party workers and supporters on a massive scale at the booth level.
The Sangh veteran-turned-poll strategist correctly smelt the mood at the state's ground level, scripted the alliance with anti-CPI(M) tribal party Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) and created a deadly challenger to the Manik Sarkar-led Left Front government.
Deodhar is credited with Narendra Modi's poll victory in Varanasi in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and played a crucial role in 2013 Delhi elections. He worked round the clock for three years, addressing rallies and meetings across all sections of the people.
Deodhar, a Maratha who speaks fluent Bengali, also learnt Tripura's local language Kokborok, in order to connect with the local people. He established a committed high-tech team and a social media cell with so that the BJP could win widespread support, especially among the youth. Deodhar's IT strategy paid off richly as the CPM is not well versed in IT tools.
The BJP aggressively blended its social media campaign with the public rallies of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah to lure the youth, who were hugely disenchanted with the CPM due to lack of job and business opportunities in the grossly underdeveloped North-Eastern state of Tripura.
PM Modi said, "It is a win for democracy over brute force and intimidation. Today peace and non-violence have prevailed over fear. We will provide Tripura the good government that the state deserves."
A naturally imaginative person, Deodhar also created catchy slogans like ''chalo paltai'' (come, let's change the rulers) and "Tripura teh gorib more, mukhya mantri chopper a chorey'' (while the poor die in Tripura, the chief minister rides a chopper).
As a result, people from various political parties queued to join the BJP. He also formed several BJP morchas for the youth, tribal communities, women, farmers and OBCs. These morchas spearheaded a series of agitations and mobilised public opinion against the CPM-Led Left Front government of Tripura. Deodhar also has a keen eye for talent and picked hundreds of talented people and assigned them party functions.

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