Dissidents in TMC allegedly inching closer to BJP in Tripura

Agartala (Tripura) [India], Feb.4 (ANI): Dissident leaders in Trinamool Congress (TMC) seem to be inching closer to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in order to ensure a direct fight against the ruling Left Front in Tripura in the assembly election scheduled to be held early next year. Tripura TMC leader Sudip Roy Barman hinted at doing everything to prevent a division of the anti-Left vote and is ready to consider going with any party. He also made a significant indication of ignoring the TMC central leadership for the purpose. "We are exploring all options; we are exploring pros and cons as to how we can give relief to the common people from the clutches of the bad elements of the Communist Part of India Marxist. In our state of Tripura we are exploring how to bring change in the government and ensuring it in the next assembly election," said TMC MLA and former Opposition Leader Sudip Roy Barman. "This party which has badly failed to live up to the expectation of the common people and want to get rid of them and we want to ensure that." He was speaking to reporters in the TMC headquarters here in presence of two more MLA Asish Saha and Biswa Bandhu Sen who was recently seen in dialogue with the state BJP president Biplab Deb. When Barman was asked that considering the ongoing bitter tussle between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the West Bengal Chief Minster Mamata Banerjee and who was recently seen close with the CPIM central leadership on the demonetization issue and hence it is most unlikely that the TMC will approve any alliance with the BJP in Tripura, the former Congress leader Roy Barman said that he along with five other MLAs had left the Congress and joined TMC on the issue of Congress-Left Front alliance in West Bengal and to ensure the Left Front is ousted from power in Tripura. He added, "We have learned a lesson from our erstwhile party, this is not going to happen this time...We will be overcoming all obstacles laid in the hurdle race and which have been placed to cross the barrier. We will cross all hurdle to reach that point. All these obstacles shall not be problem for us and we are confident enough that we shall be overcoming all these obstacles to ensure the defeat of this anti-people government in Tripura." Under this circumstance it seems that another split in the Trinamool Congress in Tripura is imminent. However, it is not yet clear if the dissident leaders will join BJP or they will float another front to go in a larger alliance. It is also not clear how many of the six MLA's who left Congress and joined TMC last year are in unison to defy Mamata Banerjee's dictate. (ANI)