AGARTALA, Oct 1 (TIWN): Filling the vacated post, BJP’s winning candidate Mimi Majumder has taken oath as BJP MLA today.

Deputy speaker Biswabandhu Sen has administered the oath at the Assembly.

BJP candidate Mimi Majumder on Friday won the Badharghat Assembly by-poll in Tripura defeating her nearest CPI-M rival Bulti Biswas by a margin of 5,276 votes.

According to the Election Commission officials, ruling Bharatiya Janata Party nominee Majumder secured 20,487 votes while her CPI-M-led Left Front rival and woman candidate Biswas got 15,211 votes.  Congress aspirant Ratan Chandra Das managed 9,105 votes while SUCI (C) contender Mridul Kanti Sarkar bagged only 470 votes. The officials said that 667 votes were cast in NOTA (None Of The Above) category. 

 The by-election in Badharghat Assembly seat, reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates, was necessitated following the death of sitting BJP legislator Dilip Sarkar. The by-poll was held on September 23. According to EC documents, the vote share of ruling BJP compared to the last year''s Assembly polls and Lok Sabha elections earlier this year, was reduced by a few thousand.  With the election of teacher-turned-politician Mimi Majumder, the number of women legislators in the 60-member House rose to four - three of BJP and one of CPI-M.