Manik Saha was on Wednesday sworn in as the chief minister of Tripura for the second time. Eight cabinet ministers — seven from the BJP and one from its ally Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) — were also sworn in on Wednesday.

The swearing-in of the new council of ministers was held at the Swami Vivekananda Maidan in Agartala. It was attended by several senior BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

However, the Left Front and the Congress skipped the event in protest against the “ongoing violence targeting Opposition members” since the results of the February 16 Assembly elections were declared on March 2.

Four of the eight ministers, who were sworn in along with Saha by governor S.N. Arya, also figured in Saha’s first ministry after he had replaced Biplab Deb as chief minister in May last year.

They are Ratan Lal Nath, Pranajit Singha Roy, Santana Chakma and Sushanta Chowdhury.

The four new ministers are Tinku Roy, Bikash Debbarma, Sudhanshu Das (all from the BJP) and the lone IPFT MLA Shuklacharan Noatia.

Saha has left three of the 12 ministerial berths vacant. Modi also attended the government formation in Nagaland and Meghalaya on Tuesday. He also participated in a roadshow from the airport to the venue. BJP president J.P. Nadda, Union home minister Amit Shah and North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convener Himanta Biswa Sarma were among the BJP leaders who attended the event.

The Left Front and the Congress, which had a seat-sharing arrangement in the polls and won 14 seats out of 60, had decided to boycott the swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday.

The BJP-IPFT ruling alliance had won 33 seats while the debutant Tipra Motha Party won 13 seats. The Left Front and the Congress had met the state chief secretary and the police chief on March 5 and 6 respectively seeking steps to contain the attacks on Opposition members.