Agartala, July 22: Tripura’s new Assembly building in the capital complex, 6km north of this town, was inaugurated by Governor D.Y. Patil this afternoon, marking the shift of the Assembly from its 39-year abode in Ujjayanta Palace in the heart of Agartala.

Both the governor and chief minister Manik Sarkar described the shifting of the Assembly as the end of an era.

“We have made a smooth transition from princely past to democratic present. The inauguration of the building will further consolidate the twin processes of democratisation and decentralisation in Tripura. It is in this building that issues having a direct bearing on peoples interest will be discussed and resolved,” Sarkar said while addressing a gathering in the inaugural programme.

Mahadeb Chakraborty, retired professor of history in Tripura University, summed up the inauguration of the building as a “major milestone in the state’s history”.

Tripura, which in the pre-independence days encompassed the whole of bordering Comilla district and parts of Sylhet and Noakhali districts of present Bangladesh, was a princely state, ruled by kings of Manikya dynasty for more than 500 years since 1432. A 30-member Electoral College had been constituted by election based on universal adult suffrage to elect Tripura’s lone representative to Rajya Sabha.

Full-fledged statehood was conferred on Tripura along with Meghalaya and Manipur on January 21, 1972.

The state Assembly was shifted to the palace and the first session commenced on March 12, 1973.