FROM A CORRESPONDENT
AGARTALA, March 9: In a historic turn of event the first BJP Government of Tripura led by 48-year-old Biplab Kumar Deb took oath of office and secrecy in the presence of a host of dignitaries including Prime Minister rendra Modi in a special programme organized in the Assam Rifles Ground here today.
The swearing-in ceremony started at 12 noon when Governor Tathagata Roy administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new Chief Minister, Biplab Kumar Deb, and his Council of Ministers marking the end of the Left rule in the State. Chief Minister Deb, the incumbent Tripura BJP President, and all his Cabinet colleagues became Ministers for the first time in a border State where for decades the BJP virtually did not exist.
As per the strength of the State Assembly, Tripura can have 12 Ministers. Today nine Ministers were inducted and three others will be taken later, said a party spokesman.
The eight Ministers who took oath today are Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Debbarma, Ministers rendra Chandra Debbarma of the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), Ratan Lal th, Sudip Roy Barman, Prajit Singha Roy, Manoj Kanti Deb, Mebar Kumar Jamatia (IPFT) and a lone woman Minister Shanta Chakma. A notification about distribution of portfolios among the Ministers is expected to be issued tonight.
New Minister Debbarma, a former central government officer, is the IPFT President while Jamatia is General Secretary of the tribal-based party, which since 2009 has been agitating to upgrade the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council areas as a full-fledged state.
The BJP, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left Front and the Congress opposed the statehood demand.
After the swearing-in, the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues went to the Civil Secretariat to their respective offices.
Apart from the Prime Minister many other dignitaries including two most veteran political persolities of Indian politics Lal Krish Advani and Muroli Monohar Joshi attended the swearing-in ceremony.
The other dignitaries present on the occasion were Assam Chief Minister Sarbanda Sonwal, galand Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijoy Rupani, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Sivraj Singh Chauhan and Rajasthan Chief Minister Basundhara Raje Sindhia besides several Union Ministers.
One notable guest was the former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar who was greeted on the dais by many leaders including the Prime Minister. Biplab Kumar Deb and senior BJP leader Ram Madhab last evening went to the CPI (M) headquarter here and invited Sarkar for today’s program.
Meanwhile, agencies report that though several Left Front leaders boycotted the ceremony to protest against what they said was large-scale violence in Tripura after the Assembly elections yet the outgoing Chief Minister and CPI-M leader Manik Sarkar and senior party leaders attended.
In the February 18 polls, the BJP won 35 seats in the 60-member Assembly and the IPFT eight. The CPI-M got 16 seats while Left Front partners — Communist Party of India, Forward Bloc and Revolutiory Socialist Party — drew a blank. So did the Congress. Balloting in Charilam constituency could not be held after the death of the CPI-M candidate.