Agartala: Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha led Tripura cabinet could induct new members shortly after Diwali, a highly-placed source in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party told EastMojo.
Sources further added that the three vacant berths in the state council of ministers would be filled when the expansion takes place.
After the 2023 assembly elections, the second cabinet under the leadership of Dr Manik Saha was constituted. At that point in time, several senior BJP leaders like Bhagaban Das and Rampada Jamatia who had been a part of the Biplab Kumar Deb cabinet were dropped. New faces like Sudhangshu Das and Bikash Debbarma filled the vacuum. IPFT MLA Shukla Charan Noatia, the sole representative in the state assembly from his party also found a place in the cabinet. Out of the total of 12, nine positions were filled up while three positions remained vacant.
Speculations had been rife after TIPRA Motha joined the table of talks with the government of India. The ruling party predicted that after a while the principal opposition party would be ready to join the government if their demands were considered.
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However, whether the BJP and TIPRA Motha finally sign a deal for power sharing is still not clear. TIPRA founder Pradyot Kishore Debbarman had maintained a kind of bitter-sweet relationship with the BJP.
His party had targeted the government on a range of issues while on some critical occasions, it refrained from making the saffron camp upset. Sources in the BJP have, however, stated that the BJP had improved its strength in the tribal areas and the party can go for any kind of electoral battle in the TTAADC areas.
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