'Not just for 6-7 months': Manik Saha says he's BJP's 2023 Tripura CM face

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha said he will be the face of the BJP in the next year's assembly elections in the Northeastern state.

Addressing a rally on Sunday night, Saha said the entire nation is watching the Town Bardowali assembly bypoll where he is the candidate.

"I have not been made the chief minister for just three months, six months or seven months... I will be the face of the BJP in next year's crucial assembly elections. I know what is what," he said.

"We are not like migratory birds that land only during elections. I am close to every resident of Town Bardowali constituency as I was born and brought up here. Being a player, doctor and professor, I have access to all spectrums of people of the constituency," he added.

Saha said he witnessed the people's socio-economic conditions during the door-to-door campaign. "It is indeed a nice experience for me."

Claiming that the entire nation was closely following the bypoll, Saha said Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had won the by-election, securing 93 per cent votes.

"I have to reach somewhere near that magic figure. I am literally in a race. If I win, it will be a victory of the faith Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president JP Nadda reposed on me," he said.

Saha also shared his first interaction with the prime minister after being appointed the chief minister.

"When I called on Modi-ji for the first time as the chief minister, he asked me if I am having good sleep. I said, you made me the party president which I did not ask for... You made me a Rajya Sabha MP, and now I am the chief minister! I am not feeling uncomfortable," he told the rally.

Saha, a Rajya Sabha MP, replaced Biplab Kumar Deb as the chief minister of the state last month.

Along with Town Bardowali, bypoll will be held in three more seats on June 23. The votes will be counted on June 26.