Tripura swearing-in ceremony: Manik Sarkar to attend event as long-time RSS loyalist Biplab Deb takes oath as new CM

Amid reported clashes between the Left front and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the new Tripura Cabinet will be sworn in on Friday at 12 pm. Biplab Deb will be sworn in as the chief minister of Tripura at the Assam Rifles ground on Friday which will usher in the first BJP government in the northeastern state. Forty-eight-year-old Deb staked claim to Governor Tathagata Roy on 6 March to form the government in the state. The governor then invited him to do so. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and three chief ministers of BJP-ruled states in the northeastern region would be present at the swearing-in ceremony, state BJP spokesperson Mrinal Kanti Deb told PTI. [caption id=“attachment_4374357” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Biplab Deb. Twitter@BjpBiplab[/caption] “All the chief ministers of the BJP-ruled states and the members of the BJP parliamentary board have been invited to attend the swearing-in ceremony,” he said. A long-time RSS worker, Deb has been largely credited for the BJP’s turnaround in Tripura. The BJP-Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) combine swept to power in the state last week, ending 25 years of uninterrupted rule of the CPM-led Left Front. The BJP had bagged 35 seats and the IPFT eight in the 60-member House. Union minister Nitin Gadkari had stated on 6 March that Jishnu Debbarma will be the deputy chief minister. Debbarma is yet to be elected as an MLA as polling in his Charilam (Scheduled Tribe) constituency was postponed due to the death of the CPM candidate. The election will now be held on 12 March. IPFT president NC Debbarma said the party would get two berths in the new cabinet which was decided at a meeting with BJP leader and the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) chairman Himanta Biswa Sarma. Manik Sarkar to attend ceremony Outgoing chief minister Manik Sarkar and former ministers of his cabinet would attend the ceremony, Left Front convener Bijan Dhar told PTI. However, leaders of the opposition Left parties would not join the programme in protest against post-poll violence in the state, said Dhar, also CPM state secretary. “The outgoing chief minister and his ministers would attend the swearing-in ceremony. Left parties have also been invited to join it. But we will not go there to protest against the post-poll violence,” Dhar told a press conference. With inputs from PTI