KAMALPUR, DHALAI:** Russell Sinha, who comes from a family with a long political association with the Communist movement in Tripura, has taken a markedly different political path, joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and working his way up through its organisational and youth ranks.
Born on October 6, 1991, in Kamalpur, Dhalai, Sinha is the nephew of late Bimal Singha, a former Tripura minister for Health and Family Welfare and Urban Development, who was assassinated in 1998. He is the son of late Govinda Das Singha, popularly known as Biman Singha, the elder brother of Bimal Singha and a school teacher.
The family’s political roots go back to Sinha’s great-grandfather, late Gana Singha, who was a member of Tripura’s first 30-member Territorial Council, constituted in 1957.
Despite the family’s Communist political background, Sinha joined the BJP as a karyakarta on November 22, 2016. He has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and the Centre’s decision to implement demonetisation were among the factors that influenced his decision.
His political shift came against the backdrop of his aunt Bijoy Laxmi Sinha, wife of late Bimal Singha, being a sitting MLA from the Communist Party at the time.
Sinha’s entry into BJP politics was followed by challenges, including, according to him, death threats. He has also spoken about the impact of the assassination of his uncles on his family and said the incidents shaped his views on political violence and vendetta.
### Entry Into Full-Time Politics
Sinha started his organisational work in the BJP under the leadership of then BJYM State President Tinku Roy, with guidance from late Advocate Arun Kanti Bhowmik and Dr Ashok Sinha.
In 2017, he shifted from Kamalpur to Agartala to work as a full-time party worker. He was subsequently appointed Co-Coordinator of the BJP Media Cell and worked under then Media In-charge Victor Shome.
He later took on social media and content-related responsibilities for then State BJP President Biplab Kumar Deb. Sinha remained associated with Deb until November 2018.
### Social Media Role
A significant episode in Sinha’s early political career came in September 2017, when he raised the case of Gopal Das, a Belonia resident who was stranded in Saudi Arabia and seeking assistance to return to India.
Sinha highlighted the issue on social media and tagged then Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Twitter, seeking government intervention.
The initiative brought attention to his use of social media as a platform for raising citizens’ grievances and seeking administrative assistance.
Sinha’s political journey has since taken him from a family identified with the Communist movement to an active role in BJP organisational politics, with his early career marked by grassroots work, media coordination and digital outreach.
