Agartala: Chief Minister of the outgoing government in Tripura Dr Manik Saha has been re-elected on Monday in the BJP legislative party meeting here amid pressure from a group within the party for Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Pratima Bhoumik.
Dr Saha has claimed the demand for the formation of the government as BJP won the majority seats in 60 members’ assembly.
While BJP has 32 legislators and its ally IPFT won one seat, the regional party of royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarman appeared as principal opposition with 13 members followed by CPI-M with 11 and Congress with 3 MLAs.
According to sources, most likely Jishnu Dev Varma would be inducted into the cabinet as Deputy CM with finance and other important portfolios considering his importance in the government and the growing demand among the tribals. Varma would be elected in a by-election within six months and BJP will sacrifice a seat for him, sources indicated.
Sources said BJP has taken three days’ time to convene legislatures meeting because Dr Saha’s most trusted man in the last government Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma and the party’s state president Rajib Bhattacharjee lost the election.
Manik Saha plays a role behind BJP’s victory in Tripura
In a straight fight for the second time from the prestigious Town Bardowali constituency within a year, Chief Minister Manik Saha secure his victory by a margin of more than 1257 votes.
He has defeated his nearest rival a veteran Congress leader and three times MLA, Asish Kumar Saha who also lost to Dr Saha in the by-election in June last year by more than 6000 votes. While CM secured 19,586 votes, his rival Saha got 18,329 votes in the final counts.
“I was confident in winning during my campaign because people liked the development activities of BJP led government in the state and the welfare schemes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I hope the second term of BJP government will be more effective and there will be more development and welfare,” Dr Saha told media.
He said that BJP’s victory was certain long back but the opposition didn’t realize it rather they thought negation politics would pave their way to success, and added, “We always prefer to do politics for the people and erase the negativity because voters are mature enough to demarcate the good and bad – it’s a lesson for the parties and the leaders as a whole.”
He reiterated, “In a short span of my tenure, I wanted to deliver the best to the people of Tripura as per the advice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As the representative of the city people, I renovated all the roads, markets, lanes, and civic amenities are improved visibly – I saw a reflection of public trust in me during my door-to-door visit.”
Dr Saha was not in active politics until he became the president of BJP state unit at the end of 2020.
His political career grows exponentially and he was elected as the lone member of the Rajya Sabha early last year. A fortnight after being sworn in as Rajya Sabha MP, Saha became Chief Minister on May 14 last year following the resignation of Biplab Kumar Deb. In 40 days, he won the by-poll.
Dr Saha has been able to cease the anti-incumbency wave triggered during Biplab Deb’s tenure and his inclusive politics against the series of odds within and outside the party seems paved the way for the victory of BJP in the state. Practically, Dr Saha couldn’t pay much attention to the administration but rather carry forward the schemes and projects initiated by his predecessor.(UNI)
