Agartala, Jan 15 (IANS): Renowned dentist Manik Saha was on Wednesday elected President of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tripura Pradesh Committee replacing Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, who has been holding state party chief's post since January 2015.

Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who was accompanied by Uttar Pradesh Jal Shakti Minister Mahendra Singh, Chief Minister Deb, Deputy Chef Minister Jishnu Dev Varma and other senior leaders, announced the name of the new state party president.

"We have received only the candidature of Manik Saha, hence, he has been elected for the post of state BJP President unopposed," said Shekhawat, who came here on Wednesday as observer to the election of the Tripura unit president.

He also announced that Ashok Sinha, a renowned physician, and tribal leader Shambhu Lal Chakma have been elected as the members of the BJP's National Council.

The 67-year-old dental surgeon-turned-polititician Manik Saha, who was the Professor and Head of the Department of the Tripura Medical College and B.R. Ambedkar Memorial Teaching Hospital in Agartala, joined the BJP in 2016.

Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that under the leadership of Saha, the party would be expanded further with the involvement of more people from various walks of life.

The Chief Minister said that the BJP, fulfilling the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party President Amit Shah, has defeated the Left parties in Tripura with the mass support of all sections of people.

Deb (48) became the Chief Minister of Tripura on March 9, 2018, after his party, in alliance with the tribal-based party Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), won the Assembly polls thrashing the 25-year uninterrupted governance of the Communist Party of India-Marxist led Left Front.