Manik Sarkar is all set to take oath as Chief Minister of the state for the third consecutive term on Monday after the ruling Left Front not only won 49 seats in a House of 60, but also wiped out the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipera (INPT), an ally of the Congress. The Congress’ tally too was cut down from 13 to 10.Sarkar’s election as leader of the Left Front’s legislature party was just a formality at Agartala on Saturday with the two other Left parties, the RSP and CPI, endorsing the formal proposal of the CPI(M). While the main Left Front partner bagged 46 seats on its own, the RSP and CPI won two and one seats, respectively.Sources in the Left Front at Agartala said Sarkar has also finalised the names of 11 ministers who would be sworn in along with him at the Raj Bhavan. They include veteran Communist leader and former minister Anil Sarkar, Badal Choudhury, Tapan Chakravarty, Jitendra Choudhury, Manik Dey and Khagendra Jamatiya.Five members are likely to be sworn in as ministers for the first time and they include Bijita Nath, who will be the lone woman member of the new Tripura ministry, and Joygobinda Debroy among others. Shahid Choudhury on the other hand is the lone Muslim MLA likely to be inducted into the new ministry.
