NATIONAL

Dr Manik Saha takes oath as Tripura CM, for the second time

Source: Poulomi Ghosh | HT News Desk Mar-08-2023 3 min read

Congress and the CPM which fought the Tripura assembly election together boycotted the swearing-in ceremony of Dr Manik Saha, who took the oath as the CM for the second time.
Dr Manik Saha took the oath as the chief minister of Tripura on Wednesday for the second consecutive term in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda. PM Modi and Amit Shah reached the state on Tuesday. The swearing-in ceremony was held at Vivekananda Maidan in Agartala. On Monday, Manik Saha staked a claim to form the government after his name was proposed unanimously by the newly elected BJP MLAs in the state. Along with Dr Saha, the MLAs will also take the oath of office today.

In the recently concluded Assembly election, the BJP won 32 seats out of 60 with a vote share of around 39%. Tipra Motha emerged as the second-largest party securing 13 seats.

Dr Manik Saha was made the chief minister in 2022 replacing Biplab Deb, just a few months before the election. Though he has been working at the grassroots level in the BJP and was party chief in the state in 2020, he never contested any election before becoming the chief minister. His first election was a bypoll from Town Bardowali seat -- the seat he retained this assembly election too.

Manik Saha joined the BJP in 2016 after quitting the Congress. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in March 2022.

The 69-year-old dental surgeon has a Mr clean image which brought him to the CM post in a rebranding of the BJP ahead of the election after there was a dip in BJP's popularity in the state because of Biplab Deb.

Dr Saha completed a Bachelor of Dental Studies programme from Government Dental College in Patna and later pursued Master of Dental Surgery in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery from King Georges’ Medical College in Lucknow. Saha was head of department of dental surgery at Tripura Medical College and Dr BR Ambedkar Memorial Teaching Hospital at Hapania in Agartala. He was honoured with a lifetime achievement award for his contribution to dental surgery by the Indian Dental Association and Tripura government.