Meet the Mumbai man who changed Tripura from Left to Right

When Tripura changed from Left to Right, there was a smile on the face of Sunil Deodhar, who hails from Maharashtra.

The soft-spoken 52-year-old is a member of BJP’s National Executive Committee and in-charge of the north-eastern state of Tripura besides being the founder of My Home India, a Mumbai-based NGO.

Though from Mumbai, Deodhar now stays in New Delhi and spend most of his time in Tripura and other North-Eastern states.

A hardcore RSS and an organization man, Deodhar had been concentrating in the North-East for the last several years – and had made a breakthrough for the party.

He is close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah. During the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he oversaw the campaign of Modi in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. Prior to that, he worked as BJP's poll strategist from Dahod district in Gujarat in 2013, under Modi, who was the then Chief Minister of Gujarat.

Deodhar is known for his organizing skills, meticulous planning and foresight.

In fact to tackle a party like CPI(M) and Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, which is a cadre-based political party, the BJP needed a man like Deodhar.

My Home India had over the years been uniting kids from the North East and other states of the country – who are rescued from Mumbai – with their families back home.

Active on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, Deodhar was quick to comment on the results.

“And Tripura shifted its base from Left to Right. @BJP4India successfully barged into the invincible fort of CPM. Freed from suppression & slavery, Tripura People seemed elated, exhilarated by the poll results. #TripuraElection2018,” Deodhar tweeted.

Over the years, Deodhar had been visiting Tripura and other North-Eastern states and know the political dynamics, culture, ethos, food of these states.

He also cut the ice and BJP joined hands with the People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), an anti-Left party.

"North-East is vast....we have to understand this. Over the years, I have been working there, I am interacting with people there...I am still learning. There are different languages, dialects, cultures, food, dress, dance, politics and so on. All states have some problems that are similar and well as different....we have to admit that lot needs to be done for the people here," he once told this DH correspondent.