Agartala: In a straight fight for the second time in a year from the prestigious Town Bardowali constituency, Chief Minister Manik Saha secured his victory by a margin of more than 1257 votes.
He has defeated his nearest rival, a veteran Congress leader and three-time 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 the BJP led government in the state and the welfare schemes of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I hope the second term of the BJP government will be more effective and there will be more development and welfare,” Dr Saha told the media.
He said that the BJP’s victory was certain long ago, but the opposition didn’t realise it; rather, they thought negativity 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 from the 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 and saw a reflection of public trust in me during my door-to-door visit.”
Dr Saha was not active in politics until he became the president of the 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 a 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-election.
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 seem to have paved the way for the victory of the BJP in the state. In practice, Dr. Saha couldn’t pay much attention to administration, preferring to carry on the schemes and projects started by his predecessor.
