Former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Asish Das, who joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on October 31, 2021 has been disaqualified under the anti-defection law. Speaker Ratan Chakraborty announced the decision here on Wednesday.
The Speaker, however, kept in abeyance the decision on Brishaketu Debbarma, a former MLA of the Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT), the ruling BJP’s coalition ally, who had joined the Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA), the party launched by the State’s royal scion, Pradyot Kishore Debbarman.
Mr. Das termed the Speaker’s order politically motivated and alleged the Speaker himself had changed parties a number of times. He also criticised the silence of the Legislative Assembly on the matter of Mr. Debbarma’s disqualification.
Mr. Chakraborty had on November 1, 2021 served a disqualification notice to Mr. Das, a day after he joined the TMC in presence of party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee here. The notice was issued on the basis of a complaint made by the BJP’s chief whip in the State Assembly, Kalyani Roy. The Speaker had referred to provisions of the Representation of the People’s Act, 1951 to ask Mr. Das to explain in writing why his membership should not be disqualified.
Mr. Das was elected from the Surma Assembly constituency in Dhalai district in 2018. The victory of 36 candidates of the BJP and eight of its alliance partner IPFT saw the rout of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left Front. The Tripura Assembly has 60 members.
The TMC on Wednesday held a “march to Raj Bhavan” protest here to press the 15-point charter of demands. Police, however, blocked the protestors near the Circuit House and briefly detained them.
The party’s State convenor and former West Bengal Minister, Rajib Banerjee, led the rally. The police allowed a delegation to submit a memorandum at the Governor’s Secretariat.
TMC leader dies
TMC leader Mujibur Islam Majumder, who was critically wounded in an attack on his life at his residence here on August 28, passed away due to cardiac arrest at the SSKM Hospital in Kolkata on Wednesday morning. The former general secretary of the Tripura Pradesh Congress had joined the TMC in June 2021.
He unsuccessfully contested as a Congress nominee in three consecutive Assembly elections, including one against CPI(M) stalwart and former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar.
Mujibur’s father, the late Mansoor Ali, was a Minister in the first Council of Ministers after Tripura attained Statehood in 1972. His elder brother is a BJP leader and chairman of the State’s Waqf Board.
The TMC blamed BJP-linked hooligans for the attack on him, his family members, and a few party leaders on August 28. Leaders across party lines mourned Majumdar’s death.
