BJP leader Manik Saha on Wednesday took oath of office as chief minister of Tripura for a second time, and the swearing in was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP ministers.

The BJP-IPFT alliance had retained power in Tripura by winning 32 seats in the 60-member assembly, for which elections were held on February 16.

Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya administered the oath of office also to eight ministers including a woman. They are Ratan Lal Nath, Pranajit Singh Roy, Santana Chakma, Sushanta Chowdhury, Tinku Roy, Bikash Debbarma, Sudhangshu Das and Sukla Charan Noatia.

The BJP is making an attempt to get tribal-based Tipra Motha Party, the second largest party in the assembly with 13 seats, to join the government and has kept three ministerial berths vacant. The state cabinet can have up to 12 members.

Besides the Prime Minister, home minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda, chief ministers Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam), N Biren Singh (Manipur), Pema Khandu (Arunachal Pradesh) and Prem Singh Tamang (Sikkim) were among those who attended the swearing-in-ceremony held at the Swami Vivekananda Maidan.

Tinku Roy, Bikash Debbarma, Sudhangshu Das and Sukla Charan Noatia are first-time ministers. Noatia is the lone MLA of the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT).