The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won both Assembly seats in Tripura bypoll which was held on September 5. According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), BJP candidate Bindu Debnath defeated CPI-M's Kaushik Chanda by 18,871 votes at the Dhanpur seat. Debnath garnered 30,017 votes, while Chanda could manage 11,146 votes.
"We never thought we would get this result. This win is against the dividing policy. We saw appeasement politics. The trend shows that people have trust in the BJP. People have shown trust in the PM's 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' slogan. The victory shows a direction that we can win even in the minority areas. Everyone's effort is behind this victory. This shows that the people have accepted the double-engine government. Tripura never saw peaceful elections. After our government came in 2018, these were the first elections. The people of Tripura have shown what democracy is. We have won democratically," said Tripura CM Manik Saha on BJP's bypoll victories in Dhanpur and Boxanagar seats.
BJP's Tafajjal Hossain wins Boxanagar seat
Meanwhile, Tafajjal Hossain of the BJP defeated CPM's Mizan Hossain by a margin of 30,237 votes at the Boxanagar seat. At this seat, Hossain got 34,146 votes, while his rival Mizan could garner only 3,909 votes.
BJP's tally rises to 33 in Tripura Assembly
The BJP won the Dhanpur seat for the first time in the Assembly polls held seven months ago, and retained it in the by-election. The ruling party wrested the minority-dominated Boxanagar seat from the CPI(M) in a significant victory in the bypoll. With these victories, the BJP's tally in the 60-member assembly increased to 33.
Its ally IPFT has one MLA, while the opposition Tipra Motha has 13 MLAs, CPI(M) has 10 and the Congress has three MLAs.
Tripura bypoll 2023
The bypoll was necessitated in Dhanpur after BJP leader Pratima Bhoumik had resigned to retain her Lok Sabha seat leaving the assembly vacant. The state's Boxanagar seat was left vacant by the death of CPI(M) MLA Samsul Haque.
Alleging large-scale rigging during the polling and inaction by the Election Commission, the opposition CPI(M) boycotted the counting of votes. The two seats witnessed a one-on-one fight between the ruling BJP and the CPI(M) with the other two opposition parties, Tipra Motha and Congress, not fielding any candidates.
The polling for the by-elections was held on September 5. An average turnout of 86.50 per cent was recorded in the two seats. The counting was held at the Sonamura Girls' School amid tight security.
(With inputs from PTI)
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