Agartala, Mar 10: Manik Sarkar will take oath as Chief Minister of Tripura for the third consecutive time here today.

The swearing-in of the 12-member Council of Ministers will also be held at Raj Bhavan. Of the 12 ministers, ten ministers including Sarkar will be from CPI (M) and the rest two from RSP and CPI each.

CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat and Politburo member Sitaram Yechury are likely to attend the ceremony.

CPI (M)-led Left Front pulled off an emphatic victory for a fourth consecutive term, winning 49 seats in the 60-member legislature.

The main opposition Congress, secured only 10 seats while its poll partner indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) bagged only one seat.

59-year-old Sarkar started his political career with the food movement in 1967. He became a member of CPI (M) in 1968.

He was selected a member of the CPI (M) State Committee in 1972. He became a member of the Party Central Committee in 1985. Later, he was appointed as the State Left Front Convener and the State Secretary of the CPI (M).

Sarkar was elected from the Dhanpur Assembly Constituency in 1998 Tripura elections. He became member of the CPI (M) politburo in 1998. He has served as the Chief Minister of Tripura since March 1998. (ANI)