Dikhyaa Mohanty 
Ahead of the state assembly election to be held early next year, BJP Tripura chief and Rajya Sabha MP Manik Saha has declared the new Chief Minister of Tripura on Saturday.
He tweeted, “Being elected as [BJP’s] Legislative Party Leader, met the Hon’ble Governor at Raj Bhavan and submitted the claim to form the government with the letter of support from my party legislatures.”
The tweet was soon followed by another: “Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, BJP National President Shri JP Nadda ji, Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah ji and BJP top leadership gave me an opportunity to serve the people of Tripura state. For this, I would like to thank them and express my gratitude.”
Biplab Deb proposed Manik Saha’s name for the post of chief minister, it has been learnt. Manik Saha is not the first ‘Manik’ to be the chief minister of Tripura. Before him, CPI(M)’s Manik Sarkar served as the chief minister for 20 years till 2018.
Manik Saha was selected as the BJP’s legislature party leader in Tripura at a meeting of party MLAs on Saturday evening. Union minister Bhupender Yadav and BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde were made central observers for the meet. After staking his claim to form the government, he will be sworn in as the new CM of the state.
After the meeting in Agartala on Saturday evening, chaos broke out as BJP MLA Ram Prasad Pal began protesting and saying he would quit the party. He broke into tears and even tried to break a chair while others attempted to placate him.
Union minister Bhupender Yadav tweeted, “Many congratulations to Shri Manik Saha ji for being elected the leader of Tripura BJP Legislature Party. I am sure that Tripura will reach new heights of development under the guidance and leadership of respected Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji.”
