AGARTALA: A day ahead of the installation of BJP's first government in the erstwhile Red bastion, hordes of saffron leaders led by Amit Shah arrived in Agartala on Thursday for the grand swearing-in ceremony on Friday which will be attended by PM Narendra Modi. The chief ministers of 10 BJP-ruled states and the party's entire parliamentary board are also going to be present.Shah, who returned to Agartala as a victorious general 18 days after Tripura went to the polls, joined party general secretary Ram Madhav and Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in a motorbike victory rally from the Agartala airport to the state guest house, covering a distance of almost 7 km. In the run-up to the polls, Shah had stayed here for more than a week to personally supervise his party's march to victory in the former Communist bastion.The 10-km stretch of road from the airport to the city, which had only CPM banners and flags even a few weeks ago, virtually turned into a saffron lane on Thursday with cutouts of only BJP chief ministers and national leaders all around.Earlier in the day, when BJP supporters were according a rousing reception to Shah and his team who reached Agartala at 3.30 pm after attending the swearing-in ceremony of BJP's ally, Neiphiu Rio, in Kohima, Manik Sarkar was making a quiet exit from the CM's official residence at Marx Engels Sarani - his home for the last 20 years. Accompanied by his wife Panchali, a retired government official, Sarkar moved to the CPM office at Melarmath, which will be his home, at least for now. "This has been my home for 20 years and I have welcomed all who have stepped in. I am grateful to the people of Tripura for their cooperation without which it would have been impossible for the administration to function," said Sarkar. He advised some journalists present there to work for the people and the state. Tripura Police spokesman Pradip De told TOI that adequate security measures have been put in place for Friday's high-profile swearing-in ceremony of chief minister designate Biplab Kumar Deb and his deputy designate Jishnu Dev Varma.

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