BJP becomes main opposition party in Tripura

Six Trinamool Congress MLAs from Tripura switched their allegiances to the BJP on Monday, reported ANI. MLAs Sudip Kumar Barman, Ashish Kumar Saha, Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl, Biswa Bandhu Sen, Pranjit Singh Roy and Dilip Sarkar joined the BJP in Agartala in the presence of  Himanta Biswa Sarma, the convener of BJP’s North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), who is from BJP-governed Assam, and Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The six Tripura MLAs met BJP president Amit Shah on Saturday in Delhi, along with Sarma, who tweeted that the MLAs “expressed desire to join party unconditionally”.

The same MLAs had defied Trinamool directions and voted for NDA’s presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind, instead of Meira Kumar, whose candidature was supported by the TMC. Trinamool general secretary Partha Chatterjee on July 3 had said in Kolkata that the party will have no relations with the six Tripura MLAs. However, the six MLAs, according to Tripura Assembly Deputy Speaker Pabitra Kar, are still recognised as TMC legislators, according to Economic Times.

This development makes the BJP the main opposition party in the state, which has been ruled by the CPI(M) for more than two decades. Notably, the Congress which was the largest opposition party in the state assembly lost that status to Trinamool last year after these six MLAs switched to the TMC after the 2016 West Bengal elections.