Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Saturday stirred yet another controversy on Saturday while talking about who should appear for the civil services examination and who should not. While attending an event at the Prajna Bhavan in Agartala on Friday, Deb said that he thinks that civil engineers are better suited for the prestigious civil services as compared to mechanical engineers. “After pursuing mechanical engineering one should not go for civil services. Instead, civil engineers should join civil services as they have the knowledge and experience to help build administration and society,” he said.

He further said, “Earlier, arts graduates use to appear for the civil services examination and now, medical and engineering graduates are also joining the services.” The Tripura CM then said that the civil service officers should be all-rounders as like the “people who are expert in all disciplines have the highest demand.” In order to prove his point, Deb cited the example of Sachin Tendulkar and Kapil Dev. He said, “People take names of special players such as Sachin Tendulkar and Kapil Dev. Dev’s bowling was good, but batting was also excellent. This is the age of specialty. All-rounders are accorded highest priority.”

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This is not the first time when the newly appointed Tripura Chief Minister made a controversial statement. Biplab Deb on April 26 had claimed that the international beauty pageants were a farce and also questioned the rationale behind crowning Diana Hayden “Miss World” 21 years ago. He then went on to praise Aishwarya Rai, who won the Miss World crown in 1994 and said that she “represents the Indian women” in the true sense. “Indian women did not use cosmetics in the old times. Indians did not use shampoo, they washed their hair with methi water and bathed with mud. These beauty pageant organizers are international marketing mafia, who spotted a huge market in the country. Today, there is a beauty parlor in every corner of the country,” he said

Deb had said, “Whoever contested the international beauty pageants won. For five consecutive years, we won the Miss World/Miss Universe awards. Diana Hayden won it too. Do you think she should have won the title?,” as reported by PTI.

Earlier in the month, Deb who is an arts graduate had claimed that Internet and satellite communication existed in the days of Mahabharata. This remark by the Tripura CM had drawn criticism from Twitterati, intellectuals and his political adversaries.