Doctor-turned-politician Manik Saha will take oath as the chief minister of Tripura for the second consecutive term on Wednesday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president J.P. Nadda, several Union ministers and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states will attend the ceremony to be held at the Vivekananda Ground in Agartala.
“This is the first time that any anti-Left government has retained power in the northeastern state in the past three decades. We hope the BJP 2.0 government will meet the aspirations of the people,” BJP Tripura unit chief spokesperson Subrata Chakraborty said.
The BJP won 32 seats in the 60-member House in the recent assembly elections in Tripura, while its ally IPFT managed to secure one seat. The Tipra Motha, formed by former scion of the state's princely family Pradyot Kishore Debbarma, bagged 13 seats, while the Left-Congress alliance secured 14.
Amit Shah, who arrived in Agartala on Tuesday along with Nadda, held talks with Saha and other senior party leaders. Saha was unanimously elected as the leader of BJP legislature party on Monday.
Earlier, there was speculation that Saha, who was made the CM last year in a brand renewal exercise replacing Biplab Kumar Deb, may make way for Union minister Pratima Bhowmik as the chief minister of the sensitive border state.
Saha, a former Congress leader, joined the saffron party in 2016. A quite and unassuming politician, Saha has been built up as 'Mr Clean' by the BJP and was appointed as party's Tripura unit chief in 2020.
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The selection of Saha as the chief minister by the BJP last year, had sparked a controversy within the state unit of the party with several ministers, MLAs and senior leaders expressing discontent, which never really died down in party circles.
In the just concluded elections, he defeated his former party's veteran leader Ashish Kumar Saha, by a margin of 1,257 votes from Town Bardowali despite detractors predicting a tough time for him in the prestigious constituency.
