Tripura Election 2023: All you need to know about Chief Minister Manik Saha

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha flashes the victory sign as he arrives to address an election campaign rally ahead of Tripura Legislative Assembly elections Pic/PTI

During his door-to-door campaign in the Town Bordowali constituency of Agartala's Ramnagar, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha said reaching out to the people has always been his aim.

Chief Minister Manik Saha also mentioned that the Congress lacks leadership and his party would go into the electoral battle aiming for a 'Virodhi Mukt Tripura'.

"I have tried to reach out to households as much as possible. The people of my constituency are excited about February 16 and are waiting in anticipation to cast their votes. They admire PM Modi a lot and I am convinced that the BJP will come to the power once again," Saha told ANI during his campaigning this week.

"Though we have raised the slogan of 'Nasha Mukt Tripura', the votes will be cast in favor of a 'Virodhi Mukt Tripura'. While I concede that it is not good for democracy but the people here want this as the Opposition only resorts to lies," he added.

Also read: Tripura assembly elections: High-voltage campaign ends, polling on Feb 16

As Tripura is set to go to polls on February 16, here is all you need to know about the present CM Saha and his political career so far:

Tripura BJP President Manik Saha became Chief Minister of the state after a sudden political development saw incumbent Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb resign from his post last year.

CM Manik Saha is a dental surgeon-turned-politician and was elected to the Rajya Sabha from the lone seat of Tripura on March 31, 2022.

In 2016, Saha joined BJP and in January 2020, he was elected as the president of BJP's Tripura unit. He was also a professor at the Tripura Medical College and B.R. Ambedkar Memorial Teaching Hospital in Agartala and the President of the Tripura Cricket Association.

Last year, Manik Saha was sworn in as the 12th Chief Minister of Tripura after the then CM Biplab Kumar Deb resigned from the top post.

To be elected in the state assembly, he contested from Agartala by-polls for an Assembly seat last year. It was the first time that in his three-decade-long political career, CM Saha contested the elections to become a member of the Assembly.

Before contesting state assembly polls, he was elected to Rajya Sabha in the lone seat of the saffron party-ruled northeastern state. CM Saha secured 40 votes while his rival CPI-M candidate Bhanulal Saha bagged 15 seats. Of the 40 votes, 33 belonged to the BJP and seven to the BJP's ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT).

The votes will be counted on March 2.

(with inputs from agencies)