TRIPURA

Amid statue uproar, is 'Twitter motormouth' guv adding fuel to fire?

Tathagata Roy with Kovind Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy (left) with President Ram Nath Kovind | Tathagata Roy's Twitter account

Even as the destruction of a statue of Vladimir Lenin in South Tripura got national attention days after the defeat of the CPI(M) government, a tweet by the state's BJP-appointed governor evoked considerable curiosity in the media.

Tathagata Roy, who was appointed Tripura governor in 2015, tweeted “What one democratically elected government can do another democratically elected government can undo. And vice versa.”

The tweet is in keeping with Roy's reputation of being politically incorrect on the social media platform. Some reports claim Roy may have been referring to the destruction of statues of Rajiv Gandhi after the Left Front's victory in 2013.

Roy has been a very unconventional governor. A civil engineer-turned-politician, Roy has had little impact, or seemingly interest, in electoral politics and seemed more interested in ideological battles. In recent years, this has been evident in his tweets, which are unapologetic about Hindutva politics, including criticism of minorities and liberals.

Critics who opposed Roy's appointment as Tripura governor referred to tweets by him purportedly justifying the Gujarat riots of 2002.

Roy's tweets on the funeral of Yakub Memon in 2015, when he said the mourners must be placed under surveillance, and his views on the Rohingya issue have invited much criticism. Roy opposed giving sanctuary to Rohingyas and even claimed the Myanmarese leadership had more foresight than the Indian leadership at Independence.

Surprisingly, despite the vast ideological gulf, Roy reportedly had an uneventful working relationship with the government of Manik Sarkar. Images being circulated on the internet show him walking Sarkar to his car after the latter submitted his resignation.

At the time of his appointment as governor, Roy had said he wouldn't tweet on political matters. With a BJP government set to take office in a few days, Roy may well be tempted to drop his practice of being restrained offline as well.