The BJP hailed its victory in the bypolls to the Dhanpur and Boxanagar Assembly seats in Tripura on Friday and said it is the end of the road for the communists in the northeastern state, which was once known as a Left bastion.
The saffron party gave the credit for its victory in the Tripura bypolls to the "strong and widely recognised" leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his mantra of "Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas", and said the results show the people's "approval" to the developmental work carried out by the party's "double-engine" government in the state.
"I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the people of Tripura for making the BJP victorious in the Boxanagar and Dhanpur assembly bye-elections," Home Minister Amit Shah said in a post on X.
The victory in the bypolls will further strengthen "our determination" to transform Tripura into a prosperous state under the leadership of the prime minister, he added.
Shah also congratulated Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, state BJP president Rajib Bhattacharjee and the party workers for the "resounding" victory.
"This result shows the people's approval to the developmental works carried out by our double-engine government under the guidance of PM Narendra Modiji," BJP chief J P Nadda said in a post on X.
Nadda also congratulated Saha, Bhattacharjee and the party's "hard-working karyakartas" for winning the bypolls with an "overwhelming majority".
BJP's in-charge for the northeastern region Sambit Patra hailed the party's victory in the bypolls and said the results have broken the arrogance of the "ghamandiya" (arrogant) alliance of opposition parties.
"They have suffered a severe defeat. People have proved their alliance to be a 'thugbandhan' (alliance of thugs)," he wrote on microblogging website X.
"This victory of BJP reflects the strong and widely recognised leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modiji and his mantra of 'Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas'," Patra added.
According to the Election Commission (EC), Tafajjal Hossain of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the Boxanagar seat, which has around 66 per cent minority voters, by a margin of 30,237 votes. Hossain got 34,146 votes, while Mizan Hossain of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) bagged 3,909 votes.
BJP's Bindu Debnath won the Dhanpur seat, which has a significant tribal population, by a margin of 18,871 votes. Debnath got 30,017 votes while Kaushik Chanda of the CPI(M) got 11,146 votes.
BJP candidate Bindu Debnath shows victory sign after his win in the Dhanpur assembly bypoll PTI
Both the seats in Sepahijala district witnessed a one-on-one contest between the ruling BJP and the CPI(M) as the two other opposition parties -- Tipra Motha and Congress -- had not fielded candidates.
"BJP wins both Assembly seats in Tripura.... End of the road for the Communists, in what was once their bastion," the party's IT department head, Amit Malviya, said in a post on X.
Alleging large-scale rigging during the polling and inaction on the part of the EC, the CPI(M) boycotted the counting of votes.
Polling for the by-elections was held on September 5. An average turnout of 86.5 per cent was recorded in the two seats. The counting was held at the Sonamura Girls' School amid tight security.
The bypoll to the Boxanagar constituency was necessitated by the death of CPI(M) MLA Samsul Haque. Union minister Pratima Bhoumik's resignation as the MLA from Dhanpur had necessitated the bypoll in that seat.
The BJP won the Dhanpur seat for the first time in the Assembly polls held seven months ago and retained it in the by-election. In a significant victory, the ruling party wrested the minority-dominated Boxanagar seat from the CPI(M) in the bypoll.
With these victories, the BJP's tally in the 60-member Assembly increased to 33. Its ally, IPFT, has one MLA, while the Tipra Motha has 13 MLAs, the CPI(M) 10 and the Congress three.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
