BJP retained the Dhanpur assembly constituency with a margin of 18,000 votes (File)
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Tuesday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was impressed by the BJP's win in recent bypolls to two assembly seats which have sizeable minority voters.
He also said the saffron party won the Boxanagar and Dhanpur seats because of development activities undertaken by the Centre and the state government.
"During my meeting with the prime minister in Delhi recently, Modi ji asked me how the BJP won the two assembly constituencies with a huge margin as Boxanagar and Dhanpur have a substantial number of electors from the minority community," Mr Saha said at a party programme in South Tripura's Rajnagar, a bordering area.
In the Boxanagar assembly seat with the majority of voters belonging to the minority community, the BJP nominee won the by-election by over 20,000 votes whereas the CPI(M) candidate's deposit money was forfeited.
The BJP retained the Dhanpur assembly constituency with a margin of 18,000 votes, where tribal and Muslim voters are factors.
"We have not heard of such massive wins of BJP in any other state where minority voters are a factor. I told the prime minister that we have won both banking on the mantra- Sabka Saath Sabka Vikash... I have personally visited the Madrasas of Boxangar and Dhanpur eight to ten times to convince the minority voters that the BJP believes in Sabka Saath Sabka Viaksh. And, we have been successful," he said.
Before the by-elections, the BJP-IPFT coalition had 32 seats of the 60-member assembly, and now the tally has gone up to 34, he said, adding that the bypoll results helped the saffron party consolidate its position further.
"In the midst of the election campaign, the central leadership wanted to know if there was any doubt over winning the bypolls but I told them that the party will secure victory with a comfortable margin," he said.
The chief minister urged party leaders to work for the people, irrespective of their caste and religion, and emphasised on the importance of the door-to-door campaign.
"Many people observed that it is not wise for a chief minister to conduct the door-to-door campaign for the by-elections but I did and the party benefited," he said.
Earlier in the programme, the chief Minister welcomed 203 families to the saffron party as they switched from the CPI(M) and Congress at Rajangar.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)