NEW DELHI:  The ruling Bharatiya Janata party on Friday night nominated Ex- Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb as its candidate for the September 22 polls to the lone Rajya Sabha seat in the state.

Arun Singh, the national general secretary (headquarters) of the BJP, said late on Friday that Deb has been nominated for the Rajya Sabha elections by the Central Election Committee (CEC).

Deb tweeted his appreciation to the central administration: "I'm grateful that BJP President J P Nadda, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, and Home Minister Amit Shah nominated me to run for Rajya Sabha MP from Tripura. I'm determined to contribute to Tripura's growth and peoples' wellbeing." J.P. Nadda, the president of the BJP, named Deb as the Haryana state observer earlier on Friday. Deb, who resigned from his position as chief minister on May 14 at the request of the central leaders, would face Left Front candidate and former Tripura finance minister Bhanulal Saha, who is supported by the CPI-M, in the upper house elections.

Manik Saha, a former dental surgeon who entered politics, resigned from the Rajya Sabha on July 4 to fill the vacancy. Saha was elected to the Assembly in the by-elections held on June 23 and took office as Chief Minister on May 15, one day after Deb resigned.

Deb's election to the Rajya Sabha is all but guaranteed because the opposition CPI-M has 15 MLAs, while the ruling BJP (36) and its ally, the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (8), have 44 seats in the 60-member assembly.

According to party sources, the sole Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman is likely to vote for the Left Front candidate, who is being led by the CPI-M, in the RS polls. The statutory notification for the elections on September 22 was released by the Election Commission on Monday, and voting will also take place that day.

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