After the conclusion of the polling process yesterday, Chief Minister Manik Saha reiterated on Friday that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will return to power in Tripura without having to forge any new alliance.

The party had tied up with regional outfit Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT) for the polls.

Addressing a press conference, Saha said he was confident that the BJP will perform better than what it did in the last elections. Amid speculation that the TIPRA Motha may emerge as the kingmaker in case no party wins an absolute majority, Saha said that is not a possibility.

“The BJP alone will win absolute majority in the 60-member Assembly. I do believe that the party will win more seats this time. The party will need no help from Tipra Motha,” he said.

In the 2018 Assembly elections, the saffron party had won 36 seats, while its ally IPFT bagged eight seats and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) 16. The Indian National Congress failed to open its account.

Asked about IPFT’s prospects, he said, "We have left five seats to them. It is up to them to say how many seats they are hoping to clinch this election.”

He asserted that Tripura, for the first time, witnessed a violence- and malpractice-free election.

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“People were seen exercising their democratic rights without any trouble,” he said.

Alleging that the CPI(M) and the Congress had tried to create trouble on the day of polling, Saha claimed that BJP leaders and workers, however, "showed patience and peacefully handled the situation.”

Asked about the allegation of irregularities by party candidate from Golaghati constituency, Hemani Debbarma, Saha said, "Let the matter be checked first. If the claim is genuine, repoll could be sought."

To a query if he will be the next chief minister, the doctor-turned-politician replied, "The future will decide… Nobody knows the future."

An average of 87.63 percent voting was recorded in Thursday’s elections.

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The polling was peaceful in Tripura, and voters came out in large numbers to exercise their democratic right.

The EC had deployed central forces in the state to ensure that there was no untoward incident. The Commission had also taken several other measures to ensure free and fair elections in the state.

The BJP has been ruling Tripura since 2018.

With agency inputs.