Former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb elected to Rajya Sabha

AGARTALA: Former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, who had stepped down on May 14 last, was on Thursday elected to the Rajya Sabha. He defeated CPI-M candidate and former Minister Bhanulal Saha by 28 votes.

The election to the lone Upper House seat was held on Thursday and immediately after the polling, the result was declared by the Election Commission officials.

Deb got 43 (BJP's 36 and IPFT's 7) votes, while Saha secured 15 votes as Congress' lone MLA and former BJP Minister Sudip Roy Barman abstained from the voting.

BJP's ally, Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) MLA Brishaketu Debbarma did not cast his vote on Thursday as he resigned from the Assembly in June last year and joined the TIPRA (Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance) headed by Tripura's royal scion, Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barman.

After his election, Deb (51) expressed his gratitude to the central leadership and tweeted: "Gratitude to the BJP and IPFT MLAs of Tripura for electing me as a Rajya Sabha MP. Gratitude to PM Narendra Modi, BJP President JP Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah for giving me this opportunity to represent Tripura in Rajya Sabha."

The BJP, however, is yet to disclose why Deb was removed from the post of Chief Minister. Dental surgeon-turned-politician Manik Saha, who became Chief Minister on May 15, and was elected to the Assembly in the June 23 bye-elections, resigned from the Rajya Sabha on July 4, causing the vacancy. (IANS)

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