Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, during his door-to-door campaign in the Town Bordowali constituency of Agartala’s Ramnagar, emphasized the importance of reaching out to the people. He also expressed his confidence in the BJP’s victory in the upcoming elections, citing the admiration for Prime Minister Modi in the region.

Saha further mentioned his party’s aim of making Tripura “Virodhi Mukt,” or free from opposition, due to the Congress’ lack of leadership and resorting to lies. Saha, a dental surgeon-turned-politician, was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2022 and became Tripura’s Chief Minister last year.

He contested for an assembly seat for the first time in his 30-year-long political career in the by-polls held last year. The votes for the upcoming elections will be counted on March 2.

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:

• In 2016, Saha joined the BJP and became the party’s Tripura unit president in January 2020.
• He was a professor at the Tripura Medical College and B.R. Ambedkar Memorial Teaching Hospital in Agartala and also served as the President of the Tripura Cricket Association.
• Saha was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Tripura’s lone seat on March 31, 2022.
• He was sworn in as Tripura’s 12th Chief Minister after the then-CM Biplab Kumar Deb resigned from the top post last year.
• Saha contested the by-polls for an Assembly seat from Agartala last year, which was the first time in his political career.
• He secured 40 votes, of which 33 belonged to the BJP and seven to the BJP’s ally Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT). His rival, CPI-M candidate Bhanulal Saha, received 15 votes.