Many BJP MLAs in Tripura want to quit the party but are holding back temporarily due to technical reasons, an ex-MLA who rejoined the Congress after quitting the saffron party said.
Sudip Roy Barman, a five-time MLA and Ashish Kumar Saha resigned from the Assembly and the primary membership of the BJP on February 7. They accused the BJP of stifling democracy and vowed to end the alleged suppression of people’s voice under Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb.
On Tuesday, the duo joined the Congress at senior leader Rahul Gandhi’s residence in New Delhi in the presence of AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Rajya Sabha member K.C. Venugopal and the party’s Tripura in charge Ajay Kumar.
“The entry of the two leaders from Tripura is just the beginning as many more from the BJP, CPI(M) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) will join our party,” Mr. Kumar told journalists outside Mr. Gandhi’s house.
Former BJP MLA Ashish Kumar Saha with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in New Delhi on Febrauary 8, 2022.
Mr. Barman said a “technicality” was preventing many BJP legislators from quitting immediately. He did not elaborate, but the technicality is believed to be the period an MLA has to serve in Tripura to be eligible for pension.
Eligibility for pension
During the Left Front government headed by Manik Sarkar, an MLA was eligible for pension even if he or she served for a day. The BJP-led government made it a minimum of four years, which the current MLAs will complete by mid-March.
“Everyone is disillusioned with the BJP in Tripura. It is now our duty to revive democracy in the State and ensure that all the democratic institutions run according to the Constitution,” Mr. Barman stated.
State BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharjee said the allegations were baseless.
Mr. Barman, a former State Congress president, is the son of former Congress Chief Minister Samir Ranjan Barman. He has won four elections since 1998 and switched over to the TMC with five other Congress MLAs in 2016 but joined the BJP ahead of the 2018 Assembly polls.His differences with Mr. Deb came to the fore a year after the BJP formed the government in alliance with the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT). He was accused of anti-party activities and axed from the Council of Ministers in 2019.
With another MLA, Ashish Das, having resigned and joined the TMC in 2021, the BJP now has 33 legislators in the 60-member House. The IPFT has seven MLAs after one of them – Brishaketu Debbarma – resigned and joined the Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance.
