Tripura cabinet expansion: Three new faces inducted into the council of ministers

For the first time since formation of government in Tripura in 2018, BJP led government in the state inducted three new faces in the council of ministers. BJP in Tripura is witnessing dissident activity. Dissident MLAs skipped the swearing in ceremony. The leaders of opposition Left parties and Congress also did not attend the oath taking ceremony. Three new faces — Ram Prasad Paul, Sushanta Chowdhury, Bhagaban Chandra Das were sworn in on Tuesday. Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya administered the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers.

Das belongs to the Schedule Caste (SC) community. Large number of MLAs will be accommodated in the 31 Public Sector Undertakings and Corporations.A senior BJP leader who does not want to be named told ET, “The expansion is aimed at strengthening the governance as the state is going to assembly polls in 2023”.Dissidents leaders on Sunday had held meetings with district leaders in the state. Those five BJP MLAs attended the Sunday’s meeting include Sudip Roy Barman, Ashis Kumar Saha, Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl, Ashis Das and Burba Mohan Tripura. Health and Information Technology Minister Sudip Roy Barman was sacked in 2019. A group of MLA led by Barman had in 2019 moved BJP leadership complaining about the style of functioning of Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb.The BJP, along with ally Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura routed the Left Front in Tripura in 2018. In the 60-member Tripura Assembly, the BJP won 36 seats and the IPFT eight, while the CPI-M, secured 16 seats.