AGARTALA: Biplab Kumar Deb was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Tripura's first BJP government in Agartala. Held at the Assam Rifles ground, the ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, and senior BJP leaders Lal Krishna Advani, and Murli Manohar Joshi. Also present were Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states like Vijay Rupani of Gujarat, Shivraj Singh Chouhan of Madhya Pradesh, Sarbananda Sonowal of Assam, and Raghubar Das of Jharkhand. Outgoing Tripura CM Manik Sarkar also attended the event.
“Treat me as your son, brother, not as the CM. Pull my ears to put me on the right track if I err in providing you good governance,” he said to the 3.7 million people in the state. Addressing the Left Front leaders, Prime Minister Modi said that their long experience in running government in Tripura can guide the newly-formed inexperienced one. The new state ministry include Sudip Roy Barman and Ratan Lal Nath, both defected from the Congress party.
Rio takes centre stage in Nagaland
In Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio was sworn in as the Chief Minister for the fourth time in Kohima, along with 11 cabinet ministers, six of them from ally BJP. Governor PB Acharya administered the oath of office to the 12-member council of ministers at Khuochiezie. The venue is of significance as this was where Nagaland's statehood was announced on December 1, 1963.
Rio's Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) has four berths in the council of ministers. Two of which, went to the lone JDU legislator G Kaito Aye and Independent Tongpang Ozukum- both who support the NDPP-BJP government. The BJP has 12 MLAs in the 60-member assembly. His swearing-in ceremony was attended by Amit Shah, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju, North East Democratic Alliance convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma, and Chief Ministers of five BJP-ruled states in the northeast.
Rio promised to remove VIP culture from the state, promote meritocracy, ensure good governance, transparency, and working together with neighbouring states with a spirit of understanding. HE said an early and final settlement to the protracted Naga political issue would remain foremost on his government's priority list.
