Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha was sworn in as an MLA in the state Legislative Assembly on Friday. Saha, who was elected with a margin of 6,104 votes in his first direct electoral battle from Bardowali town Assembly segment in the bypoll held on June 23, was administered the oath of office by Speaker Ratan Chakraborty in the Assembly lobby on Friday afternoon.
Saha was sworn in as chief minister on May 15 replacing Biplab Kumar Deb, who was abruptly dropped. While the newly appointed chief minister won the bypoll held last month, his party is set to face the Assembly elections in another nine months.
Speaking to reporters after the swearing-in ceremony, the chief minister said, “I took the oath today. We shall make even better results in 2023. The public sees which party is kaamdar. The PM thinks for the common people. Wherever the BJP or NDA government is there, the public are with the BJP. Our party won four out of five states where elections were held recently. In Tripura, we won three out of four seats which went to bypolls. The public is with us”.
He emphasised that development is his party’s main agenda which would continue in 2023. “BJP means development and our alliance partner IPFT always speaks about development. Development is our sole issue,” he said.
Asked if he would face the 2023 general elections, Saha said, “I do whatever responsibility the party entrusts me with.”
His comments come shortly after the BJP Karyakarini Sabha was held at Udaipur in Gomati district on Thursday, where the party said it took stock of organisational strength across the party rank and file and frontal organisations, identified strengths and weaknesses and would work on bridging the gap.