Agartala: The sudden appearance of a statue of Lord Ram at a site where a statue of veteran Left leader Baidyanath Majumder once stood has ignited a political controversy in Tripura. The incident occurred in Srirampur, a village under the Kailashahar’s Chandipur assembly constituency, currently represented by heavyweight BJP leader and Minister Tinku Roy.
Chandipur, once considered a stronghold of the Left, was won by the BJP in the 2023 Assembly elections. Baidyanath Majumder, a five-time MLA from the constituency, served as PWD Minister and later as Deputy Chief Minister in successive Left Front governments. He passed away in 2011 at the age of 88 after a prolonged illness.
Following the BJP’s historic victory in 2018, which ended the Left’s prolonged rule, several incidents of post-poll violence were reported across the state. In one such incident, miscreants dismantled Majumder’s statue—erected at a prominent crossroads in Srirampur—under the cover of darkness. While the statue was removed, the altar remained largely unharmed, though the inauguration plaque was also taken away.
On 12 April 2025, the site gained renewed attention when unidentified individuals installed a statue of Lord Ram, the central figure of the Hindu epic Ramayana, in the same altar. By the following morning, the presence of the statue had triggered a wave of political reactions.
The opposition CPI(M) denounced the move and alleged that the ruling BJP was involved in the installation of the statue. However, BJP leaders have claimed ignorance about the development.
Senior CPI(M) leaders, including the Leader of the Opposition, have called for the intervention of Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha in the matter.
It is worth noting that in the wake of the 2018 statue removal, then Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb had assured the public that the state government would reconstruct Baidyanath Majumder’s statue using state funds. He had even encouraged BJP workers to crowd-fund the effort. However, the promise remained unfulfilled during his tenure, and the controversy slowly faded from public memory.
The events of 12 April, however, have reignited the issue. Anjan Roy, Division Secretary of CPI(M) in Kailashahar, stated, “People of Kailashahar have high regard for the late Baidyanath Majumder for his contribution as a political functionary. The act of dismantling his statue was condemned by people from all sections of society. The then Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb assured us during his visit to Kailashahar that the statue would be rebuilt, but neither he nor his successor, the incumbent Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, took any concrete steps.”
On 13 April, Leader of the Opposition Jitendra Chaudhury wrote to the Chief Minister, urging him to take appropriate action.
“People in general are deeply saddened and astonished by the incident. I hope the state government will ensure that the statue of veteran Left leader Baidyanath Majumder is reinstalled at its original location, and the statue of Lord Ram is relocated to a suitable and respectful site,” he stated.
Reacting to the controversy, BJP Unakoti District Committee President Bimal Kar distanced the party from the incident. “Our party is not aware of the development. It is a fact that Lord Ram is revered by our party workers, and the values he stood for serve as a source of inspiration for us. But that does not mean we installed the statue in the dead of night. The CPI(M) claims that the former Chief Minister promised to rebuild Baidyanath Majumder’s statue, but we are not aware of any such official decision. Moreover, our workers were not involved in dismantling the statue in 2018,” he said.
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