User:Devrisha/sandbox

Early Life and background

Manik Sarkar was born in Radhakishorepur, near Udaipur, Tripura on January 22, 1949. His father's name was Amulya Sarkar, who worked as a tailor and his mother was Anjali Sarkar, who was a State(Province) government employee. Sarkar was active in student movements since his student days. At the age of 19, in 1968, he became a member of one of the major political parties of India, the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He graduated with a B.Com degree from MBB College and was a candidate of the Students' Federation of India throughout his academic life at MBB College. Due to his early political exposure, he was also the General Secretary of MBB College Student Union. During his college days, he was also made the Vice President of the Students' Federation of India. In 1972, he was inducted into the Communist Party of India (Marxist) State Committee, at the age of 23.

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. In 1980, at the age of 31, he was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly from the Agartala consistency. This was the start of Manik Sarkar's leadership in his state. At around the same time, he was appointed as the Chief Whip of the CPI (M). His success as the Member of the Legislative Assembly 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 as the State Secretary of the CPI (M). The biggest success came to Manik Sarkar in 1998. At the age of 39, he became the politburo of the CPI (M), which is a very high position in a Communist party. In the same year, he became the Chief Minister of the state of Tripura. Since then, he has been elected to the same position for four consecutive times in 15 years.

Personal life

Manik Sarkar is married to Panchali Bhattacharya, who has retired from Central Social Welfare Board in 2011. Sarkar and his wife live a very simple life. He is the only Chief Minister in India who has no house or a car on his name. Even his wife takes a rickshaw while traveling, with no personal security gurads. Sarkar donates his full salary that he receives as a Chief Minister to his party and in return, gets Rs. 5,000 (approximately $82 USD) per month as his allowance. Some official sources list his monthly salary as the lowest salary among all the Chief Ministers in India. Sarkar has often be called the "cleanest and the poorest Chief Minister in the country". He has enjoyed a corruption-free image even among his critics.