BJP MLA Kishor Barman inducted into Tripura cabinet, takes oath

Agartala, July 3 () Tripura Governor Indra Sena Reddy Nallu on Thursday administered the oath of office and secrecy to a new cabinet minister -- Kishor Barman -- at a simple ceremony at the Raj Bhavan.

Barman, 45, a first-time MLA, belongs to the ruling BJP.

In Tripura, the council of ministers comprises 12 members, including the Chief Minister. With the new minister's induction, the cabinet has reached its full strength.

Chief Minister Manik Saha, his council of ministers, and senior civil and security officials were present at the swearing-in ceremony, held at the Durbar Hall of Raj Bhavan in the New Capital complex, on the outskirts of the city.

Barman, who is also the party's General Secretary, won the 2023 Assembly polls from Nalchar Assembly constituency in Sepahijala district.

After the swearing-in ceremony, he, while talking to the media, thanked the Chief Minister and the party's central leaders for including him in the Tripura cabinet.

The opposition CPI-M and the Congress boycotted the swearing-in ceremony of the new minister, alleging rampant atrocities against the opposition parties' workers and leaders.

Thursday's induction of a minister was the second expansion of the cabinet headed by Chief Minister Saha.

On March 7 last year (2024), two Tipra Motha Party (TMP) MLAs -- Animesh Debbarma and Brishaketu Debbarma -- were inducted into the ministry.

On March 8, 2023, the BJP and Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) coalition government led by Saha came to power for the second consecutive term.

The TMP, headed by former royal scion Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma, contested the 2023 Assembly polls separately but in March last year, after signing a tripartite agreement with the Centre and the Tripura government, joined the BJP-IPFT coalition government, adding a new twist to Tripura politics.

The IPFT currently has one minister, Sukla Charan Noatia, in the council of the ministry. The BJP-IPFT alliance had retained power in Tripura by winning 33 seats in the 60-member Assembly. 

The BJP alone secured 32 seats while the IPFT managed one seat in the 2023 Assembly polls.

The TMP, which contested the Assembly elections in 2023 for the first time, won 13 seats of the 42 seats it contested, emerging as the second largest party after the BJP.

The TMP and the IPFT are both tribal based parties. The CPI (M) won 11 seats in the last Assembly elections (2023) while the Congress got three.

The CPI (M)-led Left Front and the Congress had a seat-sharing arrangement for the elections.

The TMP became a political force in April 2021 after it wrested power in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council. 

The politically important TTAADC has jurisdiction over two-thirds of Tripura's 10,491 sq km area, and is home to over 12,16,000 people, of which around 84 per cent are tribals.