Agartala, Dec 27 (IANS) Tripura Legislative Assembly Speaker and four-time MLA Biswa Bandhu Sen, who passed away at a private hospital in Bengaluru on Friday after undergoing medical treatment for over four-and-a-half months, will be cremated with full state honours at his hometown Dharmanagar on Sunday.
Agriculture and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ratan Lal Nath said that Sen’s mortal remains were brought to Agartala from Bengaluru on Saturday and then taken to the Tripura Legislative Assembly premises at the Capital Complex on the outskirts of the city, where leaders and people from various walks of life paid their last respects.
Governor Indra Sena Reddy Nallu, Chief Minister Manik Saha, Minister Nath along with cabinet colleagues, Leader of the Opposition and CPI(M) Tripura state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury, Deputy Speaker Ram Prasad Paul, leaders of various political parties, representatives of organisations and others paid floral tributes to the departed leader.
Floral tributes were also paid on behalf of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
Troopers of the Tripura State Rifles (TSR) rendered a final salute with reversed arms, marking the state’s highest honour to the 72-year-old veteran legislator and politician.
Sen’s demise has cast a pall of gloom over Tripura’s political landscape, with leaders cutting across party lines mourning the loss of a seasoned politician, lawmaker and Assembly Speaker.
He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter. Chief Minister Saha, after paying his last respects, said that Sen’s demise was a huge loss for the BJP in particular and for the people of Tripura in general.
He added that as Assembly Speaker, Sen discharged his responsibilities with efficiency and conducted House proceedings with fairness and exemplary competence.
The Tripura government has declared three days of state mourning from December 26 to 28 as a mark of respect.
During this period, the National Flag will be flown at half-mast across the state and no official entertainment programmes will be held. All state government offices, including those outside Tripura, public sector undertakings and educational institutions remained closed on Friday as a mark of respect.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Health Minister and BJP President J.P. Nadda, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, BJP National Working President Nitin Nabin and several other leaders expressed grief over Sen’s death.
Sen had suffered an internal brain haemorrhage on August 8 at Agartala railway station while boarding a train to his hometown Dharmanagar.
He was initially admitted to Tripura Medical College, where he underwent emergency surgery, then shifted to a private hospital in Agartala, and later moved to Bengaluru on August 11 for advanced treatment.
On the initiative of the Chief Minister, two doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, examined Sen’s condition and reviewed the treatment protocol at both Tripura Medical College and the private hospital in Agartala.
Sen’s son, Arijit Sen, also a doctor, thanked the Chief Minister and medical teams for managing his father’s initial treatment.
Biswa Bandhu Sen was elected to the Tripura Legislative Assembly four times — twice from Dharmanagar in North Tripura district on a Congress ticket in 2008 and 2013, and later in 2018 and 2023 as a BJP nominee from the same constituency.
–IANS
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