Agartala: The fallout in the Tripura BJP continues after its seventh MLA, to quit the BJP-led assembly this year, submitted his resignation on Wednesday, PTI reported.
Dibachandra Hrangkhawal, a tribal MLA of Karamcherra in Dhalai, resigned, citing personal reasons when elections are just months away in the state.
Hrangkhawal told the media, "Today, I have submitted my resignation as an MLA to the secretary of the assembly as speaker Ratan Chakraborty was not present. I have resigned on personal grounds."
He joined BJP just before the 2018 assembly elections, and before that, he was the president of the state Congress.
He said, "I have not decided yet on my next course of action but will obviously remain in politics since I am a political person."
Senior state Congress leader Asish Kumar Saha, who resigned from BJP earlier this year, accompanied Hrangkhawal to the assembly.
After Hrangkhawal's resignation, BJP lost four of its MLAs this year alone. Sudip Roy Barman and Burbo Mohan Tripura were the other two who resigned earlier this year. But, MLA Asish Das of Surma constituency was disqualified for his alleged misconduct.
Also, the BJP-led government's ally in the state, the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), lost three of its MLAs -- Dhananjoy Tripura, Brishaketu Debbarma and Mevar Kumar Jamatia. When the speaker accepted the resignations of Dhananjoy Tripura and Mevar Kumar Jamatia, Brishaketu got disqualified on account of "procedural fault".
Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson Subrata Chakraborty told PTI that Hrangkhawal had been ailing for a long and was not able to perform his duties. He claimed, "This will not impact the party's prospect in the ensuing assembly election."
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, reports PTI