Agartala, Sept 22: Former Tripura Chief Minister and BJP’s Haryana Pradesh in-charge Biplab Kumar Deb was elected as the MP to Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

In the 60-member Tripura Legislative Assembly, Deb received 43 out of 58 votes cast in the bye-election while Bhanulal Saha, the Left front candidate, secured 15 votes. However, the lone Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman skipped casting his vote following a party decision.

Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha, Opposition Leader Manik Sarkar among all BJP- IPFT and CPI-M legislators cast their votes as the voting commenced from 9 am in the morning.

The Chief Minister along with BJP Tripura president Rajib Bhattacharjee among other party leaders congratulated Deb for being elected as the MP Rajya Sabha.

Deb expressed his gratitude to the BJP-IPFT legislators for electing him.

“Gratitude to the BJP and IPFT MLAs of Tripura for electing me as a Rajya Sabha MP. Gratitude to PM Shri Narendra Modi Ji, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Shri J.P.Nadda Ji & HM Shri Amit Shah ji for giving me this opportunity to represent Tripura in Rajya Sabha. With the blessings of Mata Tripurasundari, I will continue to serve beloved people of Tripura till my last breath,” Deb wrote in a social media post.

Deb along with party Karyakartas took part in a rally soon after the results were announced.

Meanwhile, the bye-election in this lone Rajya Sabha seat was necessitated following the resignation of Dr. Manik Saha, who is now in the chair of Chief Minister.