AGARTALA: Noted Tripura BJP MLA Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl quit from the Assembly and the party on Wednesday. He is the 8th MLA to have left the BJP-IPFT coalition that came to power after winning the 2018 Assembly polls.

He is expected to return to his old party. Senior Congress leaders like Ashish Kumar Saha accompanied him to the State assembly. He put up the letter to Secretary of Assembly Speaker B P. Karmakar as the Speaker is on leave.

The 67-year-old veteran leader was elected from Karamchara constituency in Dhalai district as a BJP nominee in 2018 assembly polls. As per reports,  he was annoyed with the BJP leadership for not making him a minister or giving him any key responsibility. However, rhe BJP is yet to make an official statement on Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl quitting the party. 

 Hrangkhawl has been very familiar to former Health Minister and now Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman. He had accompanied the then BJP MLAs Barman and Ashis Kumar Saha to Delhi to meet Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi as a prelude to their joining to Congress but did not immediately follow their suit.

Thus far 8 MLAs of BJP –IPFT coalition resigned in the past 2 years. This includes Mohan Tripura of BJP who joined TIPRA; BJP’s Ashis Das is now neutral after a brief stint in TMC; Sudip Roy Barman and Ashish Kumar Saha joined Congress; Dhananjoy Tripura, Brishaketu Debbarmaand Burba ,  and Mevar Kumar Jamatia of IPFT joined TIPRA. Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl of BJP is also likely to join Congress.

The latest quit has taken place well ahead of the Assembly elections due in February next year.

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