Mukul Roy's actions in Tripura make BJP jittery

Two central leaders of BJP rushed to Tripura and held marathon meetings with party leaders and Chief Minister till Wednesday night following reports that Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy had reached out to the "rebel MLAs" who are seeking a replacement for Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb.

BJP general secretary BL Santosh and organising secretary for Northeast Ajay Jamwal separately met the MLAs, two MPs, office-bearers, and later, leaders of its ally, IPFT, in Agartala. The two are also scheduled to meet some more party leaders on Thursday, something which a BJP insider said was part of efforts to prevent TMC's possible attempt to attract the rebel MLAs.

BJP sources in Agartala said 32 of 36 MLAs attended the meeting with Santosh and Jamwal. Tripura has 60 Assembly seats.

The meetings happened following reports in the local media that at least eight senior MLAs, who are opposed to Deb, are likely to quit the party. Sources said soon after coming back to TMC from BJP, Mukul Roy got in touch with a few MLAs and asked them to join Mamata's party.

Former minister Sudip Roy Barman is reportedly leading the "rebel MLAs" against the Chief Minister. Barman is also believed to be close to Mukul Roy.

Talking to DH over the phone on Thursday, TMC's state unit president, Asish Lal Singh said at least seven to eight BJP MLAs, who are opposed to Deb's leadership are in touch with them and may join Trinamool anytime. "Bengal victory created a sort of wave in favour of us in Tripura. More than 12,300 workers, mostly from BJP, have joined our party in the past two weeks. We expect more and more leaders to join us as the election nears," Singh said.

BJP state president, Manik Saha, however, refuted the reports and told reporters in Agartala that the meetings were part of the party's organisational schedule keeping in mind the Assembly elections in 2023.

In 2016, Mukul Roy was instrumental in bringing six Congress MLAs to TMC in Tripura before he helped them get into BJP. The saffron party formed its first government in Tripura in 2018 by wresting power from the left.

Sudip Roy Barman had led six MLAs and met the central leadership in New Delhi in October last year seeking a leadership change.

TMC at present has no MLA in Tripura but many workers from BJP, Congress and the Left started joining the party after it trounced BJP in Bengal and Mukul returned to Trinamool. Mukul is also likely to visit Tripura soon.