Tripura chief minister Biplab Deb on Saturday resigned, just a year before the state goes to polls. The BJP legislative party will meet at 5 pm to pick its new leader. 

Deb became the chief minister of the state after the BJP won the 2018 Tripura polls, ending the 25-year-long rule of the Left Front government. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to face a tough challenge from Trinamool Congress, which defeated the BJP in the 2021 Bengal polls, reports Hindustan Times.

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But Biplab Deb is not the only BJP chief minister to have resigned year before the elections. In 2021, BJP-ruled Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Karnataka witnessed leadership changes. 

Karnataka

The Bharatiya Janata Party formed the government in the southern state in 2019 under the leadership of veteran BS Yediyurappa. The saffron party had been able to form the government after resignations by Congress and JDS legislators had resulted in the fall of the HD Kumaraswamy government. Two years after leading the state, Yediyurappa stepped down from his post and was succeeded by Basavaraj Bommai. Karnataka goes to polls next year. 

Gujarat

Last year, Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani resigned from his post, saying he is ready to take new responsibilities assigned to him by the party. He was succeeded by Bhupendra Patel. The home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah has been a BJP fortress since 1995, and goes to polls later this year. 

Uttarakhand

The BJP successfully ducked the anti-incumbency wave in Uttarakhand this in the Assembly polls held in February. But a year before the polls, the saffron party changed chief ministers thrice. After serving for four years as chief minister, Trivendra Singh Rawat had resigned in March last year. He was succeeded by Tirath Singh Rawat who resigned in just four months, paving way for Pushkar Singh Dhami.