The new designated Governor of Tripura, Tathagata Roy, who will be sworn tomorrow, arrived here on Tuesday afternoon from Kolkata.
He was received with a guard of honour at the Raj Bhavan in the presence of Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and his cabinet colleagues and other high officials.
Speaking to reporters here, Roy said that he has a soft corner for Tripura and Bangladesh, from where his forefathers had migrated to West Bengal, and added that the existing relationship between India and Bangladesh should be strengthened.
“I used to regularly tweet but after being designated as Governor I have completely stopped political tweets. But today I have tweeted because I am taking the charge of Tripura as Governor at an auspicious moment. I came to know only this morning from a news item that our Prime Minister shall be visiting Bangladesh next to further strengthen the existing relationship between India and Bangladesh. In that visit, one of the primary deals will be the direct bus service from Kolkata to Agartala (via Bangladesh). I cannot express in words how happy I am after reading this news. I pray that this materializes from the core of my heart,” said Roy.
“I have close friends and relatives here, from whom I know that even the poor who have to go to mainland India, the only option is to fly which is very expensive. Hence if a bus service (directly from
Agartala to Kolkata via Dhaka) starts, nothing else will be appreciated more. I hope the state government will provide help in this issue. The Prime Minister will discuss about it with the Bangladesh Prime Minister and the result will be fruitful,” he added.
The designated governor informed that only recently he had visited Bangladesh to attend a meeting of a religious group where he met several political leaders who stated that the present government in Bangladesh wants to keep a health relationship with India.
“They (present government in Bangladesh) want to keep good relations with India and it is important for Tripura. As this state is surrounded by Bangladesh from three sides and India in only one side, hence the relationship with Bangladesh is very important. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is giving importance to this and during his visit to Bangladesh will discuss on it, which is a positive sign. I convey my complete support to this and hope that the elected government of Tripura will support the central government’s decision on it,” said Roy.
Immediately after coming back to the state, Roy had invited the Chief Minister to Raj Bhavan to hold discussions on various issues.
Roy, an engineer turned university teacher turned politician was in the news for his political tweets – many of which come across as the views of a champion of Hindutva ideals.
His wife and other family members will accompany him to witness the oath taking ceremony scheduled to take place tomorrow afternoon. (ANI)