Manik Sarkar, who led the CPM to a stunning victory in last month's Assembly polls, will be on Monday sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tripura for the third consecutive time.The swearing-in of the Council of Ministers will also be held on March 10, CPM state secretariat sources said.Known for his clean image, 59-year-old Sarkar will be the longest-serving Chief Minister of the state.The CPM-led Left Front stormed back to power in Tripura for the fourth successive term with a massive majority, crushing main rival Congress in the elections held on February 23. The Front secured 49 seats in the 60-member assembly - marking four-fifths majority - with CPI(M) alone bagging 46 of them.Congress and its ally Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura together finished with a meagre tally of 11 seats.The veteran Marxist leader joined politics in 1967 by participating in the food movement which was organised by the then Opposition CPM in the state. He became a party member the next year.He entered the Tripura Assembly in 1980 after winning a bye-election from Krishnanagar constituency in the state capital and became the chief whip of the ruling Left Front. He was elected from the same constituency in 1983.Sarkar was elected from the Dhanpur Assembly constituency in 1998 and became a member of the CPM Politburo and Chief Minister of Tripura.
