Agartala, Feb 23 (TIWN / IANS) The Tripura Assembly's week-long budget session began here on Friday with the members, cutting across party lines, paying homage and expressing condolences over the martyrdom of 40 CRPF troopers in the Pulwama terror strike on February 14.

House Chairman Ashish Kumar Saha read out the condolence message and then Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, opposition leader Manik Sarkar, ministers and all legislators observed a two-minute silence for the martyred troopers.

Earlier, in his customary address on the opening day of the Assembly session, Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki urged the members to join him in paying homage to such "Men-in-Uniform" who made the supreme sacrifice for the motherland while on duty. 

"The country had witnessed a gruesome terrorist attack by Pakistani-backed militants on our security forces," the governor added.