Manik Sarkar (born 22 January 1949) is an Indian

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician who served as the Chief Minister of Tripura from March 1998 to March 2018. He is a

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

member of the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a Communism in India, communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electora ...

. In March 2008, he was sworn in as leader of Left Front, the Tripura coalition government. In assembly elections held in 2013, he became the chief minister for the fourth consecutive time. He served as the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

in the

Tripura Legislative Assembly The Tripura Legislative Assembly or Tripura Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Tripura, with 60 Member of the Legislative Assembly (India), Members of the Legislative Assembly. The present Assembly is located in G ...

from 2018 to 2023.

Early life and background

Manik Sarkar was born into a middle-class family. His father, Amulya Sarkar, worked as a tailor, while his mother, Anjali Sarkar, was a State and later Provincial government employee. Sarkar became active in student movements in his student days, and in 1968, at the age of 19, he became a member of the

. He was a candidate of the

Students' Federation of India The Students' Federation of India (SFI) is a left-wing student organization in India that upholds ideology of independence, democracy, and socialism. History The origin of Indian students movement in its organised form can be traced to th ...

throughout his academic life at MBB College, from where he graduated with a B. Com. degree. During his first year at the college there came the turbulent times of the food movement of 1967, campaigning against the policy of the then Congress government of Tripura, and Sarkar threw himself headlong into the related student struggle. His vigorous role in this mass movement led him to join the Communists. Due to his early political exposure, he also became the General Secretary of the MBB College Student Union and was also made the Vice President of the

. In 1972, at the early age of 23, he joined the State Committee of the

Political career

Six years after being selected in the CPI (M) State Committee, Sarkar was included in the party state secretariat in the year 1978. This was also the year when the first Left Front government had taken control in

Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...

. In 1980, at the age of 31, he was elected as the

Member of the Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several nation ...

from the

Agartala Agartala (, , ) is the capital and the List of cities and towns in Tripura, largest city of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tripura, situated on the banks of Haora River, Haora/Saidra River, about east of the border ...

constituency. This was the start of Manik Sarkar's leadership in his state. At around the same time, he was appointed the

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom I ...

of the CPI (M). His success as the

returned in 1983, when he was elected to the Assembly from Krishnanagar, Agartala. When the Left Front government took control in 1993, Sarkar was appointed the State Secretary of the CPI (M). The biggest success came to Sarkar in 1998. At the age of 49, he became a member of the

of the CPI (M), which is the principal policy-making and executive committee in a

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

party. In the same year, he became the

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

of the state of

. Since then, he was elected to the same position four consecutive times in 20 years. He is one of the very few chief Ministers in India who was in the office for so long. His party lost majority in the

2018 elections The following elections occurred in 2018. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. Africa *2018 Djiboutian parliamentary election 23 February 2018 *2018 Sierra Leonean general election 7 and 31 ...

and he had to step down as a result. It was noted that Sarkar did not contest the 2023 elections. He revealed that he had done so in order to pave way for younger leadership.

Personal life

Sarkar is married to Panchali Bhattacharya, who was employed with the Central Social Welfare Board till she retired in 2011. He chooses to live in an old and a very small house that belonged to his great grandfather. He used to donate his entire salary that he received as a

to his party and in return, got 5,000 per month as allowance.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarkar, Manik 1949 births Living people Bengali politicians Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from Tripura Chief ministers of Tripura University of Calcutta alumni People from Gomati district Chief ministers from Communist Party of India (Marxist) Tripura MLAs 2018–2023 Leaders of the opposition in Tripura Tripura MLAs 2008–2013 Tripura MLAs 2013–2018 MBB College alumni Tripura MLAs 1998–2003 Tripura MLAs 2003–2008 Tripura MLAs 1983–1988