Tripura BJP president Dr Manik Saha has been elected to the states’ lone Rajya Sabha seat on Thursday.

While Saha garnered 40 votes, his rival candidate, CPI(M) nominee Bhanu Lal Saha, bagged 15.

Four seats of the 60-member Tripura assembly are now vacant.

"The Rajya Sabha election was held in a peaceful manner. The result was declared after getting permission from the Election Commission. Dr Manik Saha won 40-15," Chief Electoral Officer Gitte Kirankumar Dinkarrao said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb congratulated Saha for being elected as the first BJP Rajya Sabha MP from the state.

"I believe you will work sincerely in the Upper House of Parliament for the welfare of the people of Tripura under the guidance of Honourable PM Shri Narendra Modi Ji,” Deb said in a social media post.

Manik Saha joined the BJP in 2016 after defecting from the Congress. He was made the party’s state president in 2020.

In 2018, he had replaced Biplab Kumar Deb who led the saffron party to a phenomenal victory in the Assembly elections ending a 25-year-old Communist rule.

The Left Front currently has 15 MLAs in the Tripura assembly, while the ruling BJP has a strength of 33 and its ally IPFT has eight.

The tenure of incumbent Rajya Sabha MP from Tripura, Jharna Das Baidya, will expire on April 2.

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