Manik Saha to be Tripura CM again, Y Patton to be Nagaland's deputy CM

In the Assembly elections held on February 16, BJP got an absolute majority with 32 out of 60 seats while its ally IPFT bagged one seat

Ending all speculations, Manik Saha was on Monday elected as leader of the BJP legislature party in Tripura, who will take oath along with other members of the Cabinet on March 8.

Saha, the dental-surgeon-turned politician was a front runner for the CM post, but suspense crept in after a few BJP MLAs reportedly pushed Union Minister of State, Pratima Bhoumik's name for the post.

Assam Minister Parimal Suklabaidya, who was sent to Agartala for the BJP legislature party meeting on Tuesday, however, announced that Saha's name for the CM post was proposed by Bhoumik and was unanimously endorsed by all the newly elected MLAs. Saha later met Tripura Governor Satyadeb Narayan Arya at Raj Bhawan and staked a claim to form the new government, Rajib Banerjee, president of BJP's Tripura unit, told reporters at Agartala.

In the Assembly elections held on February 16, BJP got an absolute majority with 32 out of 60 seats while its ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) bagged one seat. BJP had contested in 55 seats and IPFT in the remaining five. The BJP's tally this time decreased by four seats, from 36 in 2018. The IPFT won eight seats in the 2018 polls. The saffron party's vote share also decreased from 43.59 per cent to 39 per cent this time.

But the poll results drew the party's praise to 73-year-old Saha, who was made the CM in May last year, replacing Biplab Kumar Deb, barely nine months before the polls. BJP leaders told DH that the high command was impressed with the way Saha led the party to fight the possible anti-incumbency and the united CPI (M)-Congress in the Opposition. "Saha's capacity to keep the party's Bengali vote bank intact was something that helped as the tribal voters were swayed by the demand for Tipraland state by Tipra Motha in several constituencies," a BJP leader in Agartala said.

Tipra Motha emerged as the second biggest party with 13 seats and defeated BJP and IPFT candidates in eight tribal-dominated constituencies.

A popular dental surgeon, Saha had joined BJP in 2015 and was made the party's state president in 2020. He became Tripura's first BJP Rajya Sabha member in 2022 but was made the CM in May, replacing Biplab Kumar Deb. He was elected to the Assembly for the first time in the by-polls in the Town Bardowali constituency in September 2022. He defeated Asish Kumar Saha of Congress. Manik again defeated Asish in Town Bardowali this time by a margin of 1,257 votes.

Bhoumik is believed to be Biplab Kumar Deb's confidant.

Saha, a father of two daughters, will take oath as Tripura CM for the second time, on March 8. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, several CMs of BJP-ruled states and others are likely to attend the swearing-in ceremony.

Nagaland:

The all 12 BJP MLAs in Nagaland met on Monday and elected Y Patton as their legislature party leader. Patton will take oath as the deputy CM for the second term on Tuesday. NDPP chief Neiphiu Rio will be sworn-in as the CM for the fifth time. The NDPP and BJP contested the elections together for the second time in Nagaland and won absolute majority with 37 seats (out of 60). NDPP won 25 seats while BJP retained its 2018 tally of 12.