AGARTALA: Former Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Monday said that the BJP has given him everything and he will continue performing duties assigned by the party with devotion.
Deb said his successor Manik Saha is a "corruption-free person and a gentleman in true sense" and hoped the new chief minister will further steer the state towards development under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"I am a BJP karyakarta (worker). I have got everything from the party from being the state in-charge to the chief minister within a very short span of time. Whatever responsibility the party gives me in the future, I will perform my duties with devotion," he told reporters after the oath-taking ceremony of 11 MLAs as cabinet ministers at Raj Bhavan.
In response to a journalist's statement that people were surprised by his sudden resignation, Deb said, "People were also surprised when I had become the chief minister. They will soon see me in a new role."
Deb, who had steered BJP to a stunning victory by ending the Left Front rule in 2018, extended good wishes to Saha.
"Manik Saha is a gentleman in a true sense. He is a corruption-free person. I hope he will further steer the state towards development under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He would be able to successfully lead the government like I did for over four years," he said.
Eleven MLAs -- nine from the BJP and two from its ruling ally IPFT, were on Monday sworn in as cabinet ministers of the new Manik Saha-led government in Tripura.
Governor S N Arya administered the oath of office and secrecy to the newly inducted ministers of the BJP-IPFT coalition government at Raj Bhavan here.
Legislators who were sworn-in to the cabinet are Jishnu Dev Varma, Ratan Lal Nath, Pranajit Singha Roy, Manoj Kanti Deb, Santana Chakma, Ram Prasad Paul, Bhagaban Das, Sushanta Chowdhury, Ram Pada Jamatia, all of the BJP, and NC Debbarma and Prem Kumar Reang of the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT).
Saha, Deb and Union ministers Bhupender Yadav and Pratima Bhoumik were among those present at the oath-taking ceremony.
Government sources said the portfolios of the cabinet ministers would be announced later.
Of the 11 ministers, Ram Pada Jamatia of the BJP and Prem Kumar Reang (IPFT) were the only ones who did not figure in the Biplab Kumar Deb-led cabinet.
Deb hoped that Reang will act as a representative of the tribe in the future.