Biplab Kumar Deb was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tripura's first BJP government in Agartala on Friday noon.
The swearing-in ceremony, held at the Assam Rifles ground, was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president Amit Shah, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and senior BJP leaders Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.
Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states like Vijay Rupani (Gujarat), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh), Sarbananda Sonowal (Assam) and Raghubar Das (Jharkhand), besides others, also attended the function. Outgoing Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar was also present.
Jishnu Dev Varma, a member of the royal family, took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister.
The BJP's ally, the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) gets two berths in the 12-member new Ministry It bargained for four seats after sweeping the tribal areas and winning eight of nine seats it contested. Its Ministers are Sudip Roy Barman and Ratan Lal Nath. They were earlier with the Congress.
Among the nine Ministers sworn in, BJP's Santana Chakmas is the lone woman.
"Treat me as your son, brother, not as the CM," said Mr. Deb to 3.7 million people in Tripura after taking charge. "Pull my ears to put me on the right track if I err in providing you good governance," he added.
PM Modi said the BJP-led government will "be for those who voted for us and for those who did not." Addressing the Left Front leaders, he said that their long experience in running government in Tripura can guide the newly-formed inexperienced one.
Addressing the crowd, national party president Mr. Shah said that the Tripura victory has strengthened BJP's goal of ruling 7 of 8 Northeast States.
100-ft stage for oath-taking ceremony
The swearing-in ceremony of the first BJP government in the State was celebrated quite grandly.
“A 100-ft-long stage was erected for the big function. This is a big day for us as it marks a political transition for the state. The victory has been made possible by the development work of Modiji that has inspired our workers in Tripura to work for a change,” BJP general secretary Ram Madhav told PTI.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said the rise of the BJP in Tripura also shows the “fall of the Left” in the country.
“I have come from one end of the country to the other for the ceremony, passing by many BJP states. Change will happen more as we progress ahead,” he said.
From party president to Chief Minister
The 48-year-old Mr. Deb, who is a longtime RSS volunteer, staked his claim with Governor Tathagata Roy on March 6 to form the government in the State. The governor then invited him to do so.
The BJP alliance in the northeastern State has won 43 out of the 60 assembly seats, ending nearly 25 years of the Left rule in Tripura .
(Inputs from PTI)
