Amid a conflict of opinion between the opposition CPI(M) and the Congress party in Tripura, the Pradesh president of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party Rajib Bhattacharjee has won the lone Rajya Sabha seat of the state in the by-polls held here in the Tripura State Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.

The seat fell vacant following the resignation of Biplab Kumar Deb, who contested from the West Tripura Lok Sabha seat and secured a victory in the 2024 general elections.

Sweeping the poll, the BJP chief Rajib Bhattacharjee said that he will work for the development of the state. He expressed his gratitude to all the members of the legislative assembly of BJP and its alliance partners of IPFT and TIPRA Motha for extending their support to him.

Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha, accompanied by minister Ratan Lal Nath and others including the Chief Whip of the assembly Kalyani Roy were present.

Meanwhile, the opposition Congress party, which restrained itself from the election on Tuesday, talked tough against the CPI(M) over fielding their candidate for the election.

Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman interacted with the reporters regarding the issue and said, “They didn’t talk to us and announced their candidate. That is their decision. But if they expect us to follow their decision and vote, it is not going to happen.” 

“Congress abstained from the Rajya Sabha vote in protest against the poll violence in the past elections, particularly last month’s panchayat polls,” Barman said, adding that the situation was same for the CPI(M) where many of their party workers and supporters and even their candidates for the panchayat polls were attacked and killed, and in that case they were supposed to boycott the election, but instead of that their fielded their candidate.