Veteran Tripura BJP MLA Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl resigned from the Assembly and the party on Wednesday. He is the eighth MLA to have left the BJP-IPFT coalition that came to power after winning the 2018 Assembly elections.
Mr. Hrangkhawl, a Congress turncoat, is expected to return to his old party. Senior Congress leaders like Ashish Kumar Saha accompanied him to the State assembly. He submitted the letter to Secretary of Assembly Speaker B.P. Karmakar as the Speaker is on leave.
The 67-year-old leader was elected from Karamchara constituency in Dhalai district as a BJP nominee in 2018 assembly elections. He reportedly was annoyed with the BJP leadership for not making him a minister or giving him any important responsibility.
The BJP is yet to make an official statement on Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl quitting the party.
Mr. Hrangkhawl has been close to former Health Minister and now Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman. He had accompanied the then BJP MLAs Barman and Ashis Kumar Saha to Delhi to meet Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi as a prelude to their joining to Congress, but did not immediately follow their step.
Another BJP MLA Burba Mohan Tripura also travelled to the national capital, but he too skipped and later joined the-TIPRA headed by royal scion Pradyot Kishore Debbarman. TIPRA got four MLAs from the BJP=led coalition in its fold.
So far eight MLAs of BJP –IPFT coalition resigned in the past two years. This includes Mohan Tripura of BJP who joined TIPRA; BJP’s Ashis Das is now neutral after brief stint in TMC; Sudip Roy Barman and Ashish Kumar Saha joined Congress; Brishaketu Debbarmaand Burba , Dhananjoy Tripura and Mevar Kumar Jamatia of IPFT joined TIPRA. Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl of BJP is also likely to join Congress.
The latest resignation has taken place close to the Assembly elections due in February next year.
Published - December 28, 2022 03:43 pm IST
