Agartala: From a student leader to Chief Minister of the tiny border state of Tripura for the second consecutive term, it has been a meteoric rise for Communist Party of India – Marxist (CPM) stalwart Manik Sarkar.

Son of tailor Amulya Sarkar, Manik Sarkar (54) entered active politics during the food movement of 1966.

In his career in student politics, Sarkar rose to the post of general secretary of Tripura unit of the Student Federation of India (SFI), CPM's students wing and remained there for a decade from 1971 to 1981. At the same time he was also a member of the state unit of the party.

Sarkar, who graduated from the Calcutta University in 1971, was arrested under Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) on March 18, 1974 when Emergency was promulgated throughout the country.

In 1981, he was elected the general secretary of state unit of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the party.

He became an invitee member of the central committee since 1984 and was elected as a permanent member of the central committee in the 12th Congress of the CPM held in Kolkata next year.

PTI