Tripura: Manik Saha wins crucial Bordowali bypoll, retains CM post

New Delhi, Jun 26: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha has won the crucial Bordowali assembly bypoll that he needed to win to continue as chief minister. Saha is a Rajya Sabha member who was sworn in last month after the then chief minister Biplab Deb's sudden resignation.

Manik Saha was responsible for the BJP's victory in all thirteen civic bodies in the polls held in November 2021 in Tripura.

The chief minister, a BJP candidate, secured 17,181 votes, which is 51.63 per cent of the total votes polled. His nearest rival Asish Kumar Saha of the Congress bagged 11,077 votes or 33.29 per cent of the total votes. The Left Front was at the third spot as Forward Bloc candidate Raghunath Sarkar secured 3,376 votes (10.15 per cent).

"The people who voted for me, I thank them. This is the victory of BJP workers. I expected the margin to be a bit more. However, the results prove the understanding between the CPI(M) and Congress. We will work accordingly in the future, but people did not take this understanding in a good way," the chief minister told reporters.

"We have seen post-poll violence for many years, so we have urged the people to stay away from such a thing. People's trust is the main factor, and we have to see they don't face any problems. I would also request the opposition parties to maintain peace," he added. Manik Saha, a Rajya Sabha MP, was appointed the chief minister of the state last month after then CM Biplab Deb's sudden resignation. He had to win this by-election to continue as the chief minister.

He will now resign as an MP after being elected to the assembly, as per the rules. The bypoll was held in the Town Bardowali seat after Asish Kumar Saha resigned as a BJP MLA and joined the Congress in February.

Agartala

Congress candidate Sudip Roy Barman won the Agartala seat by a margin of 3,163 votes. He secured 17,241 votes, which is 43.46 per cent of the total votes polled. His nearest rival Ashok Sinha of the BJP got 14,268 votes (35.57 per cent). With this victory, Roy Barman became the only Congress MLA in the assembly after the party's complete rout in the 2018 assembly elections.

Jubarajnagar

The CPI(M) lost its citadel of Jubarajnagar to the BJP by a margin of 4,572 votes. BJP candidate Malina Debnath got 18,769 votes (51.83 per cent), while CPI(M)'s Shailendra Chandra Nath secured 14,197 votes (39.2 per cent).

Surma

In Surma, BJP's Swapna Das won by a margin of 4,583 votes, securing a total of 16,677 votes (42.34 per cent). Her nearest rival Baburam Satnami of TIPRA Motha got 12,094 votes (30.7 per cent).