In a development that can spell trouble for the ruling BJP in Tripura, 2 MLAs, including former minister Sudip Roy Barman, resigned from the Assembly today and quit the party.
With the exits, the BJP's strength in the 60-member Assembly has dropped from 35 to 33, just two more than the majority mark.
Mr Roy Barman and MLA Ashish Saha met Assembly Speaker Ratan Chakraborty and handed over letters of resignation.
Amid speculation that the two may join the Congress, Mr Roy Barman told the media that they will travel to New Delhi later in the day and finalise the future course of action.
Sources in the Congress said he has been in touch with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for some time. A former Leader of Opposition in Assembly, Mr Roy Barman was earlier with the Congress before he switched to the Trinamool Congress and then to the BJP. A key player behind the victory of the BJP in the 2018 Tripura polls, Mr Roy Barman was appointed a minister but dropped a year later.
The exit of Mr Roy Barman, a political heavyweight in Tripura and the son of former Chief Minister Samir Ranjan Barman, is being seen as a big blow to the BJP and it is being speculated that many in the ruling party may follow him.
With Tripura elections due early next year, the development will have the Biplab Deb dispensation worried.
Speaking to the media, Mr Roy Barman said, "The people here wanted a change from the Left. We were forced by people to join BJP, we got the change but this change was not for the good.
"The government crushed democratic voices, there is a total misrule, the media is being threatened, headlines are being dictated by the Chief Minister's office. Our resignation marks protest against all these, we have tolerated for long. We thought sense will prevail upon the BJP government but no more. We have taken this decision to fight the government and to restore democratic values back in the state," he added.
Saying that they were feeling relieved after resigning, Mr Roy Barman targeted the "one man rule" in the state and said the ministers have to be "yesmen" and "support wrong decisions".
Mr Saha said, "We will be back in Tripura on February 12. We have sent letters to BJP state president Manik Saha, resigning from the primary membership of the party."
With Mr Roy Barman and Mr Saha, three MLAs have quit the Biplab Deb government so far. Earlier, BJP legislator Ashish Das resigned after strongly criticising the BJP and its leadership and joined the Trinamool Congress last October.
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