From a school teacher to a BJP MP and now back to the classroom, the former parliamentarian says returning to his old profession offers both purpose and the security of a pension after an abrupt pause in his political career.
The native of a remote village in Dhalai district, Tripura, completed his master’s in political science and joined Mahatma Gandhi Memorial School in Agartala in 2001.
He, however, nurtured political ambitions. A chance opened up in 2014 with him joining the BJP. It got a further boost when the party fielded him as a candidate for the East Tripura Parliamentary constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, and he won.
The teacher-turned-politician suffered a setback in the last general elections when the BJP decided to field Tripura royal family member and Tipra Motha Party (TMP) supremo Pradyot Kishore Debbarma’s sister Kriti Devi Debbarman from the seat.
While Rebati Tripura remained a member of the BJP core committee, he was conspicuous in his absence from party activities for the past couple of years. The latest setback was when his name did not feature in the recently announced list of BJP officer-bearers.
Finding his political career virtually dead, Rebati Tripura decided to return to his original profession. He rejoined the school on July 20.”For the past two-and-a-half years, I literally had no work as a core committee member of the party. I attended only one meeting of the BJP Janajati Morcha during that period. Since I have no specific political assignment right now, I have decided to return to my old profession, a postgraduate teacher of a government-run school,” the former MP told PTI on Sunday.
He also said, “If I feel comfortable with the students. I will continue with teaching, and if I don’t feel like it, I may also take voluntary retirement. At least this job will confirm my post-retirement benefits, including a pension of around Rs 50,000 per month, a good amount..
The school’s officiating headmaster, Titu Saha, said that since rejoining, Tripura has been carrying out his teaching responsibilities with dedication and sincerity.
He has built a strong rapport with both colleagues and students, and has been warmly welcomed by the school community, the officiating headmaster added.
