Lok Sabha Election 2024, Phase 1: Voting on 102 seats underway
In the first phase of Lok Sabha elections 2024, as many as 102 constituencies spanning across 21 states and Union Territories will elect their new MPs.
In a warm gesture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday walked up to outgoing Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, shook hands and held a brief chat with the veteran leader as the BJP-led government took office in the state.
As Modi arrived on the dais for the swearing-in ceremony of Biplab Kumar Deb as Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) first chief minister in Tripura, Modi greeted all senior leaders seated on the stage including Home Minister Rajnath Singh, and BJP stalwarts LK Advani and MM Joshi among others.
Sarkar, who had accepted the invitation to be a part of the grand ceremony in capital Agartala was seated in the middle and Modi stopped to greet the leader who headed the Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI-M government in the state for over two decades.
Advertisement
With a borad smile, Modi shook hands with Sarkar and had a brief chat before moving on.
In his speech, minutes later, Modi said: “In the history of India, there are some elections that will always be discussed. The 2018 Tripura elections will be one such example. People will continue to discuss these polls.”
The BJP and the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) swept the February 18 polls, winning 43 of the 59 seats.
The BJP secured 35 seats in the 60-member Assembly and the IPFT, a tribal-based party, eight.
The CPI-M got 16 seats while the Left Front partners — Communist Party of India, Forward Bloc and Revolutionary Socialist Party — besides once main opposition Congress drew blank.
All the outgoing ministers, including Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, are leaving their official residences and checking into MLA hostel, party offices and rented houses.
Advertisement
