Living in Agartala for 500 days, picking up new food habits, learning the local language —

has paid off with a historic win for

in

, where

and the Left seemed invincible.

Loaned to BJP in 2005, the RSS pracharak reached out to people through his NGO, My Home India, which works for the rehabilitation of migrant children. Deodhar ensured that Union ministers visited frequently, and Prime Minister

and party president

also made several trips.

Originally from Maharashtra, Deodhar was in charge of Varanasi when Modi contested the seat in the 2014 general election. Shah then assigned him the difficult task of Tripura. As a pracharak, Deodhar had worked extensively in the north-east, especially Meghalaya, for eight years in the 1990s. “The victory is the result of the collective effort of several party leaders,” Deodhar said.

When Deodhar took charge of Tripura, it seemed a Herculean task. Only one of the 50 BJP candidates had saved his security deposit in the last election, and the party finished with a meagre vote share of 1.5%. It also had to dent the state’s strong CPM base.

Deodhar spent 15 days every month in the state, and learnt the Kokborok language, which helped strike a chord with the community that forms about 31% of the state’s population.

The party has won all 20 ST-reserved seats in the state. BJP’s first priority, he said, will be “restoration of law and order and developing confidence among women”.