Agartala: If everything falls in the right direction, Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha will head the BJP legislature party, paving the way for the dental surgeon turned-politician to continue in the top post for another term.
Dr. Saha and his new cabinet consisting of 12 ministers will be sworn in on March 8 next at Swami Vivekananda Maidan in a grand oath-taking ceremony.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and BJP National President JP Nadda will be attending the swearing-in ceremony.
As soon as the saffron party emerged victorious with a majority of its own, political circles here were agog with speculations pertaining to a possible change of guard. Even in some media reports, it was widely speculated that Union Minister of State Social Justice and Empowerment Pratima Bhoumik may replace Dr. Saha as the next Chief Minister of the state.
However, top sources in the BJP said, “Dr. Saha enjoys the confidence of BJP top brass and the support of the majority of the party legislators. And, therefore, he is the most suitable choice for the post of Chief Minister. The decision was taken during a meeting of the newly elected saffron party MLAs at the party’s election office.”
The post of deputy chief minister has been laid vacant for a suitable tribal leader. Jishnu Dev Varma, who was appointed deputy chief minister in the Biplab Kumar-Deb cabinet, faced a shock defeat at the hands of TIPRA candidate Subodh Debbarma from Charilam assembly constituency. Dev Varma is among the BJP heavyweights who lost the elections despite a high-pitch campaign trial in their constituency.
Sources said, “The post of deputy chief minister will be offered to one of the tribal MLAs who managed to win the elections in spite of TIPRA Motha’s strong grip in the scheduled tribe-dominated belt.”
On the composition of the new cabinet, BJP sources said, “A number of new faces will be inducted in the cabinet. BJP general secretary Tinku Roy, Pratima Bhoumik, Kishore Barman are some of the leaders who are going to get crucial cabinet berths in Dr. Manik Saha’s Cabinet 2.0.”
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Meanwhile, BJP state president Rajib Bhattacharjee, while speaking to media persons, said that this meeting was convened to review the party’s preparedness for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Tripura. “All the elected MLAs are present here. This crucial meeting is for the preparations. I want to thank all the party workers for their efforts to bring BJP back to power,” said Bhattacharjee.
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