Former Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Monday filed his nomination as a BJP candidate for the September 22 bypoll to the lone Rajya Sabha seat from the northeastern state.
Chief Minister Manik Saha, Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Verma, Union Minister Pratima Bhoumik and BJP state president Rajib Bhattacharjee accompanied him when Deb submitted his papers.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party’s top leadership have made me BJP in-charge for Haryana and nominated me for the bypoll to Rajya Sabha seat from Tripura. I will try my best to strengthen the party’s organisation in both the states,” he told reporters after submitting nomination papers.
He urged BJP leaders and workers to put up a united fight for the 2023 assembly elections in the northeastern state.
“In the 2018 polls, the BJP won 36 seats of the 60-member assembly, and we must ensure that the party’s strength in the House increases next year,” he said.
The BJP leader also lauded the state government led by Manik Saha for its performance to “fulfil the people’s aspirations”. Deb is contesting for the RS seat vacated by Saha who replaced him as the chief minister. Former Tripura minister and CPI(M) leader Bhanu Lal Saha has already submitted his nomination for the Rajya Sabha election.
Deb’s win is all but certain as the BJP has a majority in the assembly.
The saffron party and its ally IPFT have 44 MLAs in the House, while the Left has 15 members and the Congress has one legislator.
