Newly-elected Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb assumes office, chairs cabinet meeting

AGARTALA: Following a massive political sweep in Tripura, newly-elected Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Saturday assumed office in Agartala. Deb chaired a cabinet meeting shortly after he assumed the office.

Agartala: Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb chaired a cabinet meeting after he assumed office. pic.twitter.com/ujXX5Z8eos

— ANI (@ANI) March 10, 2018

On Friday, 48-year-old Deb took oath as the state's 10th Chief Minister in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP veterans Murali Manohar Joshi and LK Advani and outgoing CM Manik Sarkar.

The rise of Biplab has been nothing short of remarkable and the ascent of his party has been nothing short of historic. The BJP had demolished the communist citadel of Tripura, winning a two-thirds majority with ally IPFT and ending 25 years of uninterrupted rule of the CPI(M)-led Left Front. The saffron party had secured less than two percent votes in the 2013 polls.

Taking the party to the far-flung tribal regions in the state has been widely regarded as the key reason for the success and it was spearheaded by a former RSS worker called Biplab Deb. The former gym trainer galvanised BJP forces in the state and was rewarded for his perseverance.

BJP, which had no MLAs in the outgoing Assembly and polled just 1.5 percent votes in the 2013 elections, losing deposits in 49 of the 50 constituencies it contested, secured over 42 percent of votes in the February 18, 2018, Tripura elections.