Dr Manik Saha sworn in as Tripura CM for second time; 8 ministers also take oath

Dr Manik Saha was sworn in as the Tripura chief minister for the second time on Wednesday in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, union home minister Amit Shah, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national chief Jagat Prakash Nadda.

Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya administered oath of secrecy to Saha and eight other council of ministers at the swearing-in ceremony held at Swami Vivekananda Maidan in Agartala.

Also Read: Manik Saha chosen Tripura CM, will take oath tomorrow

Ratan Lal Nath, Pranajit Singha Roy, Shantana Chakma, Sushanta Chowdhury, Tinku Roy, Bikash Debbarma, Sudhangshu Das and Suklacharan Noatia are the council of ministers who took the oath.

Tinku Roy, Bikash Debbarma and Suklacharan Noatia are among the new faces in the cabinet.

Barring Suklacharan Noatia ,who is the lone winner from Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) in the assembly polls, are from the BJP.

The Left Front boycotted the ceremony.

The BJP won 32 seats while its ally IPFT got one seat in the assembly polls conducted on February 16.

The TIPRA Motha, a regional party headed by royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarma emerged as the main opposition party securing 13 seats while the CPM-Congress got 11 and 3 seats respectively.

The results of the 60-seated assembly were declared on March 2.

Once known as former chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb’s close aide, Saha was named as the new chief minister of the state last year, replacing Deb who assumed the post in 2018.

He was Rajya Sabha parliamentarian when he was elected as BJP’s legislative party leader.

After Deb’s resignation a year before the state assembly polls, Saha defeated Congress leader Asish Kumar Saha by 6,104 votes in Town Bardowali seat in the assembly by-poll held last year.

Asish Saha was a three-term MLA from the seat.

After BJP’s victory in the 2018 assembly polls, he was given the responsibility of the booth management committee for the 2019 parliamentary elections. During his initial days in the party, he was in-charge of urban areas in the 2018 assembly polls. In 2020, he was made state president of the party, a post that was occupied by Deb for four years.

Born in 1953, Saha completed a Bachelor of Dental Studies programme from Government Dental College in Patna and later pursued Master of Dental Surgery in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery from King Georges’ Medical College in Lucknow.

Besides being a practising dental surgeon, Saha was head of department of dental surgery at Tripura Medical College and Dr BR Ambedkar Memorial Teaching Hospital at Hapania in Agartala.

He was honoured with a lifetime achievement award for his contribution in dental surgery by the Indian Dental Association and Tripura government.