Deb will be sworn in as Tripura CM on March 9

BJP leader Biplab Deb will be sworn in as the new chief minister of Tripura on March 9 to usher in the party's maiden government in the northeastern state after it ended 25 years of uninterrupted rule of the CPM-led Left Front.

Deb, who will have another state BJP leader Jishnu Kumar Debbarma, a tribal, as his deputy, will assume office amid accusations by the CPM that the BJP and ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) were unleashing violence in the state after the combine swept to power last Saturday winning 43 seats in the 60-member Assembly. The BJP, which bagged 35 seats, has rejected the allegations. The IPFT notched 8 seats.

The swearing-in ceremony would be held on March 9 in the Assam Rifles Maidan, said Deb, a long-time RSS volunteer who has been largely credited for the BJP's turnaround in Tripura. Earlier in the day, Deb, also the state BJP chief, was unanimously elected the leader of BJP legislature party. Union minister Nitin Gadkari was present at the meeting as the central observer.