New Cabinet ministers of Manik Saha-led Tripura govt to take oath today

Agartala (Tripura): A day after Manik Saha took oath as Tripura Chief Minister, Governor SN Arya will administer the oath of office and secrecy to 11 cabinet ministers at a programme at Raj Bhavan on Monday (May 16) at 12 pm. Of the 11 MLAs, nine from the BJP and two from the Indigenous People`s Front of Tripura (IPFT) will take oath as the cabinet ministers of Tripura, said an ANI report. 

Earlier on Sunday, Manik Saha was sworn in as the chief minister of Tripura. The BJP legislative party meeting elected him as the legislature party leader on Saturday in the presence of the Central observers after Biplab Kumar Deb submitted his resignation. 

All the ministers of the Biplab Kumar Deb cabinet, barring Mevar Kumar Jamatia of IPFT, will found a place in the new cabinet, according to reports. A rift between Jamatia, the minister for Tribal Welfare in the Biplab Kumar Deb government, and Indigenous People's Front of Tripura supremo NC Debbarma came to the fore recently.

Rampada Jamatia, a veteran tribal leader of the BJP, was included in the list of cabinet ministers, and IPFT MLA Prem Kumar Reang has reportedly been inducted into the new cabinet. 

"Jishnu Dev Varma, NC Debbarma (IPFT), Ratan Lal Nath, Pranajit Singha Roy, Manoj Kanti Deb, Santana Chakma, Ram Prasad Paul, Bhagaban Das, Sushanta Chowdhury, Rampada Jamatia and Prem Kumar Reang (IPFT) will take oath as the cabinet ministers of the state tomorrow," the new CM is said to have stated in a letter to the governor on Sunday night.

The BJP decided for leadership change in the state a year ahead of the Assembly elections by replacing Biplab Kumar Deb with Saha as the Chief Minister. After Manik Saha was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Tripura, the BJP has once again taken recourse to its old mantra to beat anti-incumbency by changing the face in a poll-bound state. 

Manik Saha, who joined the BJP in 2016 after quitting Congress, was made party chief in 2020 and elected to Rajya Sabha in March this year. 

Tripura unit of the BJP leaders was surprised with the choice of Manik Saha as chief minister as he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from the lone seat barely two months ago. Saha is a Rajya Sabha MP and chief of the party in the state. 

Notably, the state is likely to witness Assembly polls in March next year.

(With Agency Inputs)