Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has once again returned to the spotlight of embarrassment with his latest faux pas, this time on Rabindranath Tagore. In a video that has surfaced on social media, Biplab Deb is seen stating that Rabindranath Tagore “returned his Nobel Prize in protest against the British”.
Biplab Deb made the statement at a function in Udaipur marking the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.
Rabindranath Tagore had received the Nobel Prize in 1913 for his work Gitanjali. However, he did not return the prize in protest. He refused to accept Knighthood in protest against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919.
Biplab Deb is not new to making such gaffes or controversial remarks. Since his appointment as chief minister of Tripura, Biplab Deb has made similar comments on different occasions causing severe embarrassment for the BJP.
In April, Biplab Deb said that internet and satellite communication existed during the Mahabharata. “How could Sanjaya (the charioteer of King Dhritarashtra) give a detailed account and description to the blind king about the battle of Kurukshetra? It means internet was there, the satellites and that technology was there in this country at that time.”
Then, Biplab Deb said that former Miss World Diana Hayden did not represent Indian beauty “like Aishwarya Rai” did and that Hayden did not possess the “traits of goddess Saraswati or Lakshmi”. He apologised for his comment later.
That's not all. Biplab Deb made another bizarre remark that mechanical engineers should not go for civil services, but civil engineers should.
He then went on to say that youngsters should not waste their crucial time running after political parties or government jobs and, instead, should open paan shops or milk cows for livelihood.
Earlier this month, Biplab Deb was summoned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after senior BJP leaders sought an intervention to rein in the chief minister whose comments were constantly causing embarrassment to the party.