Agartala, Sep 21, 2022, TRIPURATIMES Desk

Agartala, Sept 21: As announced by the Election Commission, the bye-election to lone Rajya Sabha seat in Tripura will take place on Thursday--two candidates are in the contest.

While the ruling BJP fielded former Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb for the Rajya Sabha seat, the Left Front nominated former minister Bhanulal Saha.

Deb’s victory is only a matter of time since there are very little chances of cross-voting, according to party sources.

BJP has 36 MLAs and its ally IPFT has seven MLAs. On the other side, the strength of Opposition Left Front is 15 while Congress has one MLA in the 60-member Tripura Legislative Assembly.

Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha chaired an important meeting with the BJP and IPFT legislators on Wednesday evening to discuss the strategy for the bye-election. The former Chief Minister and BJP nominee also attended the meeting.

Newly-appointed party’s Tripura prabhari Dr. Mahesh Sharma and North East co-ordinator Sambit Patra were also present in the meeting.

Speaker of Tripura Legislative Assembly Ratan Chakraborty and Deputy Speaker Biswa Bandhu Sen along with BJP state president Rajib Bhattacharjee were present in the meeting held the Chief Minister's official residence.