from Krishnanagar, Agartala. When the Left Front government took control in 1993, Sarkar was appointed the State Secretary of the CPI (M). The biggest success came to Sarkar in 1998. At the age of 49, he became a member of the politburo of the CPI (M), which is the principal policy-making and executive committee in a Communist party. In the same year, he became the Chief Minister of the state of Tripura. Since then, he was elected to the same position four consecutive times in 20 years. He is one of the very few chief Ministers in India who was in the office for so long. His party lost majority in the 2018 elections and he had to step down as a result. It was noted that Sarkar will not contest the 2023 elections. He revealed that he had done so in order to pave way for younger leadership. Personal life Sarkar is married to Panchali Bhattacharya, who was employed with the Central Social Welfare Board till she retired in 2011. He chooses to live in an old and a very small house that belonged to his great grandfather. He used to donate his entire salary that he received as a Chief Minister to his party and in return, got 10,000 (approximately US$155) per month as allowance. Controversy According to Tripura education minister Ratan Lal Nath, former chief minister Manik Sarkar genuinely took on the role of a whistleblower in the Rs 640 crore PWD fraud investigation that resulted in the indictment of numerous officials including former PWD minister Badal Choudhury. See also Manik Sarkar ministry (2013–2018) References External links 1949 births Living people Bengali people Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from Tripura Tripura politicians Chief Ministers of Tripura University of Calcutta alumni People from Gomati district Chief ministers from Communist Party of India (Marxist) Tripura MLAs 2018–2023 Leaders of the Opposition in Tripura Tripura MLAs 2008–2013 Tripura MLAs 2013–2018 MBB College alumni