Sarkar joined politics in 1967. He was elected secretary of the CPI-M's Tripura unit in 1993 after state party chief and legendary Marxist leader Dasaratha Deb became chief minister (1993-1998).
A bachelor of commerce from Calcutta University in 1971, Sarkar was first elected to the state assembly from the Agartala constituency in a 1980 by-poll and again in 1983.