AGARTALA, Sept 19: Tripura chief minister Manik Saha
recently claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was
impressed by the BJP’s win in recent bypolls to two assembly
seats which have sizeable minority voters.
He also said the saffron party won the Boxanagar and
Dhanpur seats because of development activities undertaken
by the Centre and the state government.
“During my meeting with the prime minister in Delhi
recently, Modi ji asked me how the BJP won the two
assembly constituencies with a huge margin as Boxanagar
and Dhanpur have a substantial number of electors from the
minority community,” Saha said at a party programme in
South Tripura’s Rajnagar, a bordering area.
In the Boxanagar assembly seat with the majority of voters
belonging to the minority community, the BJP nominee won
the by-election by over 20,000 votes whereas the CPI(M)
candidate’s deposit money was forfeited.
The BJP retained the Dhanpur assembly constituency with a
margin of 18,000 votes, where tribal and Muslim voters are
factors.
“We have not heard of such massive wins of BJP in any other
state where minority voters are a factor. I told the prime
minister that we have won both banking on the mantra-
Sabka Saath Sabka Vikash… I have personally visited the
Madrasas of Boxangar and Dhanpur eight to ten times to
convince the minority voters that the BJP believes in Sabka
Saath Sabka Viaksh. And, we have been successful,” he said.
Before the by-elections, the BJP-IPFT coalition had 32 seats of
the 60-member assembly, and now the tally has gone up to
34, he said, adding that the bypoll results helped the saffron
party consolidate its position further.
“In the midst of the election campaign, the central leadership
wanted to know if there was any doubt over winning the
bypolls but I told them that the party will secure victory with
a comfortable margin,” he said.
The chief minister urged party leaders to work for the
people, irrespective of their caste and religion, and
emphasised on the importance of the door-to-door
campaign.
“Many people observed that it is not wise for a chief minister
to conduct the door-to-door campaign for the by-elections
but I did and the party benefited,” he said.
Earlier in the programme, the chief minister welcomed 203
families to the saffron party as they switched from the
CPI(M) and Congress at Rajangar. (PTI)
