Manik Sarkar, in , in Tripura is an India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n politician. He has been Chief Minister of Tripura

Tripura

Tripura is a state in North-East India, with an area of . It is the third smallest state of India, according to area. Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on the north, south, and west. The Indian states of Assam and Mizoram lie to the east. The capital is Agartala and the main languages spoken are...

 since March 1998, and is a Politburo Member of Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Communist Party of India (Marxist)

The Communist Party of India is a political party in India. It has a strong presence in the states of Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. As of 2011, CPI is leading the state government in Tripura. It leads the Left Front coalition of leftist parties in various states and the national parliament of...

. He has a background as a prominent leader of Students Federation of India

Students Federation of India

Students Federation of India is one of the major student organisations in India. SFI is politically linked to the Communist Party of India . Founded in 1970, it claimed a membership strength of nearly 4.2 million school and university students as of 2010.SFI is currently led at the All India level...

. He is governing Tripura in a coalition called the Left Front

Left Front

The Left Front is an alliance of Indian leftist parties. After a 34-year reign in West Bengal, the Left Front was swept from power in the 2011 election...

. On 10 March 2008 he swore his oath in English language, heading thus the 6th Left Front government.

Profile

Born of a middle class family on January 22, 1949, at Radhakishorepur, South Tripura. Shri Manik Sarkar jumped headlong into the students movement during his early academic career at the turbulent times of the food movement of 1967 against the then Congress government of Tripura. It was his vital and vigorous role in this mass movement that inducted him into the CPI (M) of which he became a member in 1968, when he was a student of the premier educational institution of the state, the M. B. B. College (Calcutta University). He had become the General Secretary of M. B. B. College Student’s Union as the SFI nominee and later on also held the post of SFI State Committee Secretary and of Vice President of the all India Committee of SFI in quick succession. He acquired Degree in Commerce from Calcutta University. In 1972, he was elected a member of the CPI (M) State Committee and was inducted into the party state Secretariat in 1978, the year in which the first Left Front government had assumed office. At the 12th Party Congress held in 1985, he became a member of the party Central Committee. His first stint as an MLA started in 1980 when he was elected as a CPI(M) candidate in a bye – election of the State Assembly from Agartala Town constituency and was also entrusted with the charge of the Left Front Chief Whip. Following the assumption of office by the third Left Front government in 1993, he became the State Secretary of the CPI(M) and the State Left Front Convenor. In the Tripura Legislative elections in 1998, he has been elected from the Dhanpur Assembly Constituency under Sonamura Sub – Division, West Tripura. Shri Sarkar became member of the CPI(M) politburo in 1998.

Assets

He is the poorest Chief Minister in India, with a bank balance of just Rs 13,920. Sarkar's financial condition came to light when he submitted nominations along with an affidavit declaring his assets on January 31, 2008, ahead of Assembly Elections. His wife Panchali Bhattacharjee, is an officer of the Central Social Welfare Board under the Government of India. The 59-year-old Marxist has no land, no vehicle and no other moveable or immoveable assets.
“As Chief Minister, he received a monthly salary of Rs 9,200 and subsidiary allowance of Rs 1,200 per month and these amounts he donates to the party fund. A non-smoker and teetotaller, Sarkar's critics and archrivals in the Congress and other opposition parties of Tripura are also quite impressed by his personal integrity and honesty. Sarkar's wife also leads a simple life and prefers travelling in rickshaws. If Sarkar and his wife take part in the same programme, the Chief Minister goes in his official vehicle while his wife travels in a rickshaw or an auto. Sarkar, a close follower of late Chief Minister Nripen Chakraborty who was the father figure of the Communist movement in Tripura, created political history in Tripura by becoming Chief Minister for third straight term. The Marxist leader contested Assembly Elections for the fifth time since 1981 and won from Dhanpur in west Tripura for the third consecutive time.

External links

• Photo of Manik Sarkar