Agartala: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Saturday paid tribute to the late Biswabandhu Sen, former Speaker of the Tripura Legislative Assembly, at the Assembly premises.
The Chief Minister offered floral homage and remembered Sen for his exemplary life and dedicated service to the people of Tripura.
“I offered my respectful homage to his exemplary life and dedicated service to the people of Tripura,” Saha wrote on X highlighting the late Speaker’s contribution to the state’s legislative and public life.
The former Speaker passed away at a private hospital in Bengaluru on Friday at the age of 72 after undergoing treatment for over four months.
Sen, a four-time Member of the Legislative Assembly, is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. He had earlier served as a Congress legislator before joining the BJP.
The Tripura government announced three days of state mourning from Friday as a mark of respect. During the mourning period from December 26 to 28, the National Flag will be flown at half-mast across the state and no official entertainment programmes will be held.
The government also ordered the closure of all state government offices, public sector undertakings and educational institutions on Friday.
Saha, senior minister Ratan Lal Nath, Leader of Opposition and CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury, Deputy Speaker Ram Prasad Paul, Congress leader Sudip Roy Barman, and several other leaders expressed condolences.
In a social media post, the Chief Minister said Sen’s death was an irreparable loss to the state and conveyed his condolences to the bereaved family.
Speaking to reporters later, Saha said that Sen discharged his duties as Speaker with fairness and efficiency and conducted Assembly proceedings with competence.
Sen had suffered an internal brain haemorrhage on August 8 at the Agartala railway station while boarding a train to Dharmanagar in North Tripura district. He underwent emergency surgery in Agartala before being shifted to Bengaluru on August 11 for advanced treatment.
On the initiative of the Chief Minister, doctors from AIIMS, New Delhi, had examined Sen during the initial phase of treatment in Agartala, officials said. Sen’s son Arijit Sen, a doctor, had earlier stated that the family decided to move him to Bengaluru for further care and thanked the state government and medical teams for their support.
Biswa Bandhu Sen was elected to the Tripura Legislative Assembly four times — twice from Dharmanagar on a Congress ticket in 2008 and 2013, and later in 2018 and 2023 as a BJP candidate from the same constituency.