Manik Saha takes oath as Tripura CM for second term in PM Modi’s presence, 8 ministers sworn in

Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya administered the oath of office in Bengali to Saha, a maxillofacial surgeon. Initially seen as a loyalist of Biplab Kumar Deb, Saha has cemented his image as a mild-mannered politician who is critical of political hooliganism — a major criticism against his predecessor.

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&gt;<p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Dr. Manik Saha takes oath as Chief Minister of <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tripura?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Tripura</a&gt; for second consecutive time. Dr. Saha was administered oath of office by Governor Satyadeo Narayan Arya at a grand ceremony in Swami Vivekananda Ground in Agartala <a href=”https://t.co/nZVhDem8zH”>pic.twitter.com/nZVhDem8zH</a></p>&mdash; All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) <a href=”https://twitter.com/airnewsalerts/status/1633347727806574593?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>March 8, 2023</a></blockquote>

Saha won his first-ever Assembly contest last year, defeating three-term MLA and Congress leader Ashish Kumar Saha by 6,104 votes in a bypoll. He secured his second victory with a margin of just 1,257 votes in the polls held on February 16 this year. The BJP won 32 of 60 seats in the Tripura Assembly and its ally IPFT won one.

The ministers retained from the previous cabinet are Ratan Lal Nath, who served as Law and Parliamentary Affairs minister in the last cabinet, Pranajit Singha Roy, who served as transport minister; Santana Chakma, who served as social welfare and social education minister; and Sushanta Chowdhury, who served as information and cultural affairs minister.

Sushanta Chowdhury took the oath in Hindi and Santana Chakmam, a Buddhist, in the name of Buddha.

The new ministers sworn in are BJP youth leader Tinku Roy, the party’s state Janajati Morcha chief Bikash Debbarma, BJP youth leader Sudhanshu Das and Shuklacharan Noatia, the lone MLA from the BJP’s alliance partner Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT).

Three ministerial berths have been kept vacant. Sources say these were offered to TIPRA Motha for being a part of the new government. The party won 13 seats in the polls, just one short of the tally of the Congress-CPM alliance.
The Motha has said it will only join any alliance if it is given a written agreement for its core Greater Tipraland demand or a constitutional solution is promised in writing for the welfare of tribals.

Before the swearing-in ceremony, PM Modi joined a road show from Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport to Swami Vivekananda Maidan.

Among members of the last cabinet who have not figured in the list of ministry this time are IPFT supremo NC Debbarma, who died earlier this year, former deputy chief minister Jishnu Dev Varma, who lost to TIPRA Motha at his home turf Charilam, IPFT member Prem Kumar Reang who lost the election this time, BJP tribal leader Rampada Jamatia and Ramprasad Paul — who was seen hurling chairs and yelling after Saha replaced Deb.

Meanwhile, the opposition CPI(M) and the Congress boycotted the swearing-in ceremony in protest against incidents of violence across the state since results were announced on March 2.

In a statement Tuesday, the CPI(M) extended best wishes to the new government and said while it would boycott the swearing-in ceremony, it appealed to the government to take meaningful steps in curbing political violence in the state. Speaking to reporters Wednesday, senior CPI(M) leader and former deputy speaker Pabitra Kar reiterated his party’s stand that the BJP won the election due to the division of opposition votes by TIPRA Motha.

Kar also accused Motha of having an “underhand understanding” which he claimed was responsible for dividing anti-BJP votes in 22 seats and defeating Opposition candidates.