Denied ticket, Tripura BJP MLA resigns from party, files nomination as independent

Tripura BJP MLA Atul Debbarma on Tuesday said he has resigned from the saffron party after being denied a ticket for the upcoming polls.

He submitted his nomination papers as an independent candidate for his home constituency Krishnapur in Khowai district.

“I have already sent my resignation letter to the Speaker of the Tripura assembly and also quit the BJP.

“I had left my lucrative job in Delhi. I could have continued service had I not contested the last assembly elections. I have been working for people of Tripura, staying away from my family who lives in Delhi,” Debbarma, a renowned doctor, said.

The BJP fielded Bikash Debbarma, a local tribal leader, for the Krishnapur assembly constituency.

Read | Tripura Assembly polls: Tipra Motha chief won't contest on Feb 16

Expressing anger, the doctor-turned-politician also claimed that the party has not “shown any courtesy” to him and it did not say “why I was not considered” for the seat.

“That’s why I filed my nomination paper to contest from Krishnapur constituency as an independent candidate,” he said.

BJP’s Doctors’ Cell in-charge Tamojit Nath from North Tripura’s Dharmanagar, and many leaders have quit the party after they did not find their names on the list of nominees for the February 16 assembly elections.

Bikash Reang, a BJP tribal leader, also submitted a nomination from Julaibari in South Tripura district as an independent candidate as the saffron party’s ally IPFT fielded its nominee.

BJP state committee member Ranjan Sinha, an aspiring candidate for the Chandipur assembly seat in Unakoti district left the party as state general secretary Tinku Roy was given a ticket.

Meanwhile, 228 candidates, including Chief Minister Manik Saha, Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma, Pradesh Congress president Birajit Sinha and Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman, submitted their nomination papers for the ensuing assembly elections on Monday, a poll official.

Earlier, 77 aspirants filed their nomination papers.

“As many as 228 candidates of different political parties have submitted their nominations before the returning officers on Monday, the last day of filing nomination papers. The entire process was peaceful and no complaint was received,” Chief Electoral Officer Gitte Kirankumar Dinnakarrao said.

The last date for withdrawal of nomination is February 2.

Dinakarrao said 25 observers have already arrived in the state to ensure free and fair election to the 60-member assembly.