Tripura govt to be sworn in on March 8, BJP-IPFT begin talks to pick CM

Agartala: The new government will be sworn in on Thursday (March 8) in Tripura, where the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance defeated the Communist Party of India (Marxist) government, which was in power in the northeastern state for 25 years.

The BJP and its alliance partner, the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), scripted history on Saturday by winning the assembly polls with a two-third majority in the state.

Biplab Deb, a young BJP leader with a background in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), is expected to be the state’s new chief minister.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president Amit Shah are expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony.

Union minister Nitin Gadkari and tribal affairs minister Jual Oram would arrive in Tripura on March 6 to discuss with the winning candidates the name of the next CM and submit a report to the BJP parliamentary board to choose the new leader.

The party is also considering two indigenous names for the post, said BJP sources, after the IPFT sought its own nominees.

Outgoing chief minister Manik Sarkar, after being at the helm for 20 years, submitted his resignation to Governor Tathagata Roy in Agartala on Sunday.