Biplab Deb starts new innings with a CBI probe, renaming Agartala airport

AGARTALA: Tripura's Biplab Kumar Deb government started its innings with a cabinet meeting to order two CBI inquiries, set up a committee to give employees a pay hike and a decision to rename the state capital Agartala's airport after the state's last ruling monarch, also an icon for tribal groups.

The Manik Sarkar government had back in 2010 got a resolution passed in the state assembly to name the airport after nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. But the BJP had backed demands to name the airport after the monarch, accusing the previous Manik Sarkar government's efforts to what it called were efforts to "distort" the royal history and undermine the king's role in developing the state. The BJP had last year celebrated the 110th birth anniversary of Tripura's ruler Bir Bikram Kishore Debbarman of the Manikya dynasty.

Bir Bikram Kishore Debbarman is considered the father of modern architecture in Tripura, as the entire planning of present-day Tripura was initiated during his rule. He is also considered one of the pioneers in land reforms.

Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya, the head of Tripura's Royal family and working president of Congress in the state, was the first to welcome the decision.