Tripura BJP gets first Rajya Sabha member as state president wins lone seat

The Tripura BJP got its first Rajya Sabha member when its state president, Manik Saha, was elected from the state’s lone seat in Parliament’s Upper House on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters after the results were announced in the evening, Saha said, “I am grateful to the legislators who voted in favour of me. I will raise the development issues of the state in Delhi. We have a ‘double-engine government’ in Delhi and Tripura. I hope there should be no hindrance to development activities.”

Check Out Express Premium

• SY Quraishi: ‘Election Commission has to win the trust of the Opposition’
• For food and fuel, India needs strategic partnerships
• Karur death toll: What leads to stampedes, why India sees so many of them

Click here for more

Saha, a well-known dental surgeon, was named the BJP’s state chief in 2020, four years after he joined the saffron party, which came to power in 2018.

Story continues below this ad

The BJP’s victory in the Rajya Sabha poll was almost certain since the party has 33 members in the 60-member Assembly, as against the 15 MLAs of the Opposition CPM.

Bhanulal Saha, who contested on behalf of the CPM-led Left Front, was defeated. “I have got 15 votes. There is nothing more to say,” he told reporters.