Manik Saha, who led BJP to victory, is a dental surgeon who joined the BJP in 2016 after quitting Congress. He was made party chief of the state in 2020 and elected to Rajya Sabha in March 2022. He was BJP MP until the change of guard took place last year.
The change of guard took place last year when Saha replaced Biplab Kumar Deb to steer the party in the Assembly polls amid a multi-cornered contest in the northeast state.