In 1968, when by-elections were held to fill vacancies created by the boycott of the Legislature by members of the National Federation Party (NFP) from the Legislative Council, he contested the Ba Indian Communal Constituency for the Alliance Party against R. D. Patel of the NFP. Although he lost by a greater margin than his Alliance predecessor in the last two elections (James Shankar Singh), the election established him as a well known Ba identity and in 1969 he was elected the Mayor of Ba town. He was mayor for two terms.