Agartala, March 7 (PTI): The Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), an ally of the BJP that won the Assembly elections in Tripura, today said they would get two berths in the cabinet.
The issue of number of ministers the tribal party would get was finalised in a meeting with Assam minister and chairman of North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) Himanta Biswa Sarma.
“We had demanded four berths in the cabinet, but later agreed to accept two berths. It was decided that the BJP would consider our demands to give more berths if possible. We are happy,” IPFT Secretary Mevar Kumar Jamatiya told reporters.
Asked about the portfolios given to them, he said it cannot be disclosed before the cabinet takes oath on March 9.
The IPFT had earlier demanded ‘respectable representation’ in the new cabinet and that the chief minister be selected from among the tribal MLAs.
On these, Jamatiya said, “These are old issues and we do not want to discuss these now. We are happy.”
With a 60-member Assembly, Tripura can have a maximum of 12 ministers including the chief minister.
Sarma said he finalised the the architecture of the cooperation between the BJP and the IPFT for the new government in Tripura.
“Today I met Shri NC Debbarma and all elected MLAs and office-bearers of Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) in #Agartala and finalized the architecture of the cooperation between @BJP4Tripura and IPFT for the new government in Tripura,” he said in a tweet.
The BJP-IPFT combine swept to power in the state last week, winning 43 seats in the 60-member Assembly. The BJP bagged 35 seats and the IPFT eight.
The BJP state president Biplab Kumar Deb would be sworn in as the chief Minister tomorrow. Senior indigenous leader and member of Tripura royal family Jishnu Devvarma would be his deputy. He is also from the BJP.
