Another BJP MLA quits in Tripura; Resignation of 7th MLA from Ruling Coalition

Agartala: A tribal BJP MLA Dibachandra Hrangkhawal resigned from the Tripura assembly on Wednesday. With him, a total of seven MLAs of the ruling coalition in Tripura have quit this year.

Hrangkhawal cited personal reasons for his resignation.

“Today, I have submitted my resignation as an MLA to the secretary of the assembly as speaker. I have resigned on personal grounds,” he told newsmen.

Hrangkhawal was the president of the Tripura state Congress in the past. In 2018 he had joined the BJP just before the assembly polls.

Senior state Congress leader Asish Kumar Saha, who resigned as a BJP MLA earlier this year, accompanied Hrangkhwal to the Tripura assembly.

This year BJP has lost four of its MLAs in Tripura. Besides Hrangkhawal, legislators Sudip Roy Barman and Burbo Mohan Tripura also resigned earlier this year. MLA Asish Das of BJP was disqualified for his alleged misconduct.

The Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT), a constituent of the BJP-led government, also lost three of its MLAs.

The BJP has 34 MLAs in the 60-member assembly, while its ally IPFT has five. The opposition Congress has one MLA and CPI(M) has 15 legislators, while five seats are vacant.