Dr. Manik Saha was today sworn-in as the new Chief Minister of Tripura. Dr. Saha who was administered the oath of office by Governor Satyadeo Narayan Arya in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a grand ceremony in Swami Vivekananda Ground in Agartala took oath as CM for the second consecutive time.
The grand event was attended by Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, BJP president, Jagat Prakash Nadda, Assam chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Manipur CM, N. Biren Singh, Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu, Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang, Union Minister of State, Pratima Bhowmik, BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP, Biplab Kumar Deb, East Tripura Lok Sabha MP, Rebati Tripura, among others.
Around nine MLAs were sworn-in as Ministers in the cabinet of Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha which includes, Ratanlal Nath, Pranajit Singh Roy, Shantana Chakma, Sushanta Choudhary, Sudhanshu Das, Tinku Rai, Bikas Debbarma and alliance partner IPFT’s MLA Shuklacharan Noatia.
While the BJP has 32 legislators and its ally IPFT won one seat, the regional Tipra Motha Party of royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarman appeared as principal opposition with 13 members followed by CPI-M with 11 and Congress with 3 MLAs.
IPFT, which was almost routed in the elections, has got one ministerial berth.
The CPM and Congress leaders boycotted the oath ceremony while Tipra Motha leaders also skipped the event.
Four ministers of the previous government who fought the 2023 elections & secured victory have been denied berth this time.
Noatia, the lone MLA of the BJP ally Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), was inducted in the council of ministry.
Three tribal MLAs, including Noatia, were given ministerial berths in the Manik Saha-led cabinet. Three ministerial berths remained vacant as the BJP has been approaching tribal based Tipra Motha Party (TMP) to join the BJP-led government.
Four ministers of the first BJP-led government – Ram Prasad Paul, Bhagaban Das, Manoj Kanti Deb and Rampada Jamatia – did not find place in the second saffron party-led government.
Three new faces of BJP– Tinku Roy, Sudhangshu Das, Bikas Debbarma and Shukla Charan Noatia of IPFT have been inducted in the new council of ministers.
Political observers earlier felt that the Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Pratima Bhowmik, who was elected from the Dhanpur assembly constituency, would find an important place in the Manik Saha-led cabinet, but it was not done yet though three ministerial berths remained vacant.
Three ministerial berths have been kept vacant.
The members of Tripura cabinet are- Dr. Manik Saha (Chief Minister), Ratanlal Nath, Pranajit Singha Roy, Santana Chakma, Sushanta Chowdhury, Tinku Roy, Bikas Debbarma, Sudhangshu Das and Shukla Charan Noatia (IPFT).
The Chief Minister is expected to distribute the portfolios within a day or two.
Meanwhile, the BJP-IPFT alliance retained power in Tripura for the second straight term by winning 33 seats in the 60-member state assembly, for which elections were held on February 16. The poll results were declared on March 02 last.
