NEW DELHI, Feb 9: Two BJP members of the Tripura Assembly on Wednesday quit both from the party and the Assembly and joined the Congress reducing the ruling party’s strength to 33 in the 60-member House.The BJP had formed the government in the state by winning 36 seats in the 2018 elections with Biplab Deb as the chief minister. But it lost one member to the Trinamool Congress last month and now two crossed over to the Congress.
Among those who left the BJP was Sudip Roy Barman, a former minister who was sacked from the Deb cabinet in 2019 and his close associate, Ashish Kumar Saha.
In the past four years, the BJP has seen several episodes of similar turbulence, including rebel MLAs camping in Delhi seeking replacement of Deb and public criticism of the party and government from within. Barman and Saha were at the centre of most such episodes.
A five-time MLA and one of the senior-most leaders of the state, Barman had been dropped as health minister for unspecified reasons and had been bristling since. Barman claimed on Wednesday that many other BJP leaders and legislators would leave. “You will see this government end up in minority.”
The BJP, in turn, has accused Barman and Saha, a three-time MLA, of plotting to overthrow the government. BJP state president Manik Saha told reporters: “The Barman drama has been going on for quite some time. A flow chart has to be made on how many times they have changed parties… We are not at all worried about this (development).”
Sinking since the BJP took away its space in the state, the Congress has definitely got a fresh breath of life with Barman’s entry. He has returned five-and-a-half years after leaving the Congress with five other MLAs for the Trinamool Congress and later to the BJP. AICC in-charge for Tripura Ajay Kumar claimed that the state would see “more surprises.”
(Manas Dasgupta)
