Tripura scripted history on Friday when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led government took oath of office for the first time ever in this north-eastern state.
BJP state president Biplab Kumar Deb was sworn in as the 10th Chief Minister of Tripura ending a 25-year-ol regime of the Left Front.
Also read: Stage set for ceremonial swearing-in of first BJP-led government in Tripura
Deb was youngest BJP chief in any state.
He was elected from the Banamalipur Assembly constituency under Tripura West parliamentary constituency.
An RSS volunteer for long 16 years, Deb was mentored by Sunil Deodhar and KN Govindacharya.
He was also a gym trainer in New Delhi after completing his graduation.
The state BJP tribal leader who belongs to the royal family of the State, Jishnu Debbarma was also sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister.
Ten other ministers of the BJP and its alliance partner Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), that include eight from BJP and two from IPFT, were also sworn in amidst loud cheers from thousands of people and party workers who have gathered at the Assam Rifles Ground since Friday morning.
The oath of office and secrecy was administered by Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy.
In a tweet in its official Twitter handle early Friday morning, the state BJP said: ‘Tripura will usher into a new era of development, good governance and prosperity for people under the leadership of Shri @BjpBiplab and Shri Jishnu Debbarma today.’
While attending the swearing in ceremony, Assam Minister and the man behind BJP’s success story in Tripura, Himanta Biswa Sarma, tweeted: ‘History being scripted in Indian politics as a red bastion turns into saffron fortress. As I get ready to join swearing in of CM Sri @BjpBiplab ji, I again take this opportunity to thank people of #Tripura for posing their faith in us, and our karyakartas for their great efforts.’
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, newly appointed Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio among others also attended the swearing-in ceremony in Agartala.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president Amit Shah had earlier arrived in Agartala on Thursday afternoon for the ceremonial swearing-in of the first BJP-led government in Tripura.
Other stalwarts of the saffron brigade who were present in the grand event are L K Advani, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Finance Minister Arun jaitley, Home Minister Rajnath Singh national general secretary Ram Madhav, Sunil Deodhar who was also the party in-charge of Tripura, most of the Chief Ministers from among the 21 BJP ruled states in the country, apart from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar was also present at the swearing-in ceremony, though the CPI-M had earlier stated that it would boycott the ceremony in protest against the violence meted out allegedly by BJP volunteers in the State.
Earlier, elaborate security arrangement across the capital town was set in place supervised by West Tripura District Magistrate Milind Ramteke and West District Police chief Abhijit Saptarshi.