11 ministers take oath as cabinet ministers in Tripura; Opposition parties boycott swearing-in-ceremony

Agartala: A day after new Chief Minister Manik Saha assumed office, altogether 11 MLAs - nine from the BJP and two from the IPFT - took oath as cabinet ministers of Tripura here on Monday. Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya administered oath to 11 ministers during a ceremony at the Raj Bhawan.

Of the 11 ministers, nine were in the Council of Ministers headed by former Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, who resigned on Saturday.

The ministers who took oath are Jishnu Dev Varma (Deputy Chief Minister), Ratan Lal Nath, Pranajit Singha Roy, Manoj Kanti Deb, Santana Chakma, Ram Prasad Paul, Bhagaban Chandra Das, Sushanta Chowdhury, Rampada Jamatia, all from the BJP; and Narendra Chandra Debbarma and Prem Kumar Reang from the IPFT.

Chakma is the only female Minister in the Council. The strength of the council is 12, including the Chief Minister Manik Saha. Jamatia and Reang are veteran tribal leaders.

Former chief minister Biplab Deb, whose sudden resignation a day earlier got Saha the top job, was present at the ceremony along with BJP MLAs and state ministers. Saha, who is also the Tripura BJP President, was sworn-in on Sunday as the 12th Chief Minister of the state just a day after Biplab Kumar Deb resigned from the top post.

Deb, 51, became the Chief Minister on March 9, 2018, after the BJP-IPFT alliance came to power by defeating the Left Front in the Assembly elections, ending the latter`s 25-year rule.

With the internal feud in the IPFT, former Forest and Tribal Welfare Minister Mevar Kumar Jamatia was dropped by the party supremo Narendra Chandra Debbarma.

Main opposition CPI-M led Left Front, Congress and other political parties boycotted the swearing-in-ceremonies on Sunday and Monday alleging large scale political attacks.

The election to the 60-member Tripura Assembly is due in January-February 2023. Since May 2019, Tripura had witnessed waves of revolt by dissident BJP MLAs and leaders against Deb.

(With IANS Inputs)