By IANS,
Agartala : The Left Front ministry in Tripura will be expanded Sunday with the re-induction of former minister Sahid Chowdhury, an official said here Friday.
“Tripura Governor D.Y. Patil will administer the oath to the new minister at a simple ceremony in Raj Bhavan on Sunday,” a top Raj Bhavan official told IANS.
Former Tripura Food and Minority Affairs Minister Sahid Chowdhury had resigned in April 2008 from the cabinet following a controversy over his alleged links with a Bangladeshi arms dealer.
While Chowdhury’s alleged links with Bangladeshi arms dealer Mamun Mian have not yet been established, the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) court here in 2010 sentenced Mamun to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for forging documents relating to his identity and also imposed a fine of Rs.100,000.
Default in payment of the fine will lead to further imprisonment of one-and-half years.
The issue has rocked state politics since 2008. Demands were raised from various quarters for Chowdhury’s induction in the council of ministers as there is no representation from the minority Muslim community in the cabinet headed by Chief Minister Manik Sarkar.
Chowdhury, 54, was elected to the assembly in the February 2008 assembly election from the Boxanagar assembly constituency in west Tripura for the third time and became cabinet minister for the first time in March 2008.