The resignation letters of the two BJP MLAs, Sudip Roy Barman and Ashish Saha have been accepted, Speaker of the Tripura Assembly Ratan Chakraborty told the media on Tuesday.
“After scrutinizing the relevant documents, It is clear that the resignation letters of Barman and Saha could be accepted and accordingly I have accepted their resignation letters. Sudip Roy Barman and Ashish Saha have lost the membership of the State Assembly from February 7 afternoon, 2022 – they will now be considered as the ex-member of the Assembly House”, the Speaker said.
He also said, “I am not sure as to whether Barman and Saha have joined any other party – if they do so, we would explore Anti-defection rules and take steps accordingly”.
Meantime both Barman and Saha have joined Congress in New Delhi today. (Click here to read in details)
Commenting on IPFT MLA Brishaketu Debbarma’s resignation letter which is yet to accepted, the Speaker said the submission procedure of the resignation letter by Debbarma was faulty as he sent the letter by post without physically appearing before the Speaker. Even as Debbarma was summoned on two other occasions, he did not turn up – we have summoned for him again on February 14 next. If Debbarma fails once again, we will take action against him.
On ex-MLA Ashish Das, the Speaker said he summoned Das several times, but the latter did not respond, moreover, Das joined other party – so he qualified for application of Anti-Defection rules. And accordingly, we took step on the issue of Ashish Das.
The effective strength of the 60-seat has been reduced to 57 from February 7 with the case of Brishaketu Debbarma is set to be settled on February 14 next.
The BJP and its ally IPFT came to power for the first time in Tripura on March 9, 2018, after ending 25 years rule of the CPI (M)-led Left Front.
The IPFT with eight MLAS is an ally of the ruling BJP, who secured 36 seats in the 60-member Assembly in the 2018 elections while remaining 16 seats bagged by the CPI-M.
