Agartala: Two senior leaders of the opposition from Congress and Trinamool Congress joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday out of their “frustration” with the current leadership of their parties.
Both the leaders’ move to the ruling BJP stems from claims that neither Congress nor TMC were serious about their political future in Tripura.
Former Tripura Pradesh Congress Media and Communication Cell in-charge Prasanta Bhattacharjee joined the BJP on Wednesday as he slammed the Congress for “disregarding the sacrifices of people who hoisted the party flag in the toughest times”.
“The Congress has become a bankrupt party. A big section of the party workers opposed the pre-poll adjustment with the CPIM but vested interests of one leader (Sudip Roy Barman) outshined dissent. In the current situation, the Congress is dependent on its fiercest rival, CPIM. The party has lost its freedom,” said Bhattacharjee.
“In 2018, Congress drew a blank. There were no chances of a revival in 2023 either. Whatever has happened is because of the tie up with CPIM and the party is broken again,” he added.
Meanwhile, senior Trinamool Congress leader Asish Lal Singh, who joined the saffron party on Wednesday after a long stint with the TMC, said he was impressed by the development works carried out in Tripura under the BJP regime.
Singh is also the son of Tripura’s first chief minister Sachindra Lal Singh.
“Former chief minister Sudhir Ranjan Majumder was the founder of Trinamool Congress in Tripura. He worked hard to establish the party here and to some extent he was successful. But, Kolkata was never serious about Tripura. No Tripura leader was allowed to meet the TMC supremo. Even before the 2023 elections, even when she (Mamata Banerjee) was here for two days, no senior leader of the state could meet her,” alleged Singh.
BJP Tripura State President Rajib Bhattacharjee and minister Sushanta Chowdhury welcomed the newcomers at BJP state headquarters on Wednesday. Later, Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha also exchanged greetings with the new entrants at the party office.
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No slogan only development
On being asked about the principal opposition TIPRA Motha and its political slogan of ‘Greater Tipraland’, BJP State President Rajib Bhattacharjee said, “We don’t believe in coining new slogans for gaining political momentum. We have witnessed how demand for sovereign Tripura was raised once upon a time; later, the demand for Tipraland and Greater Tipraland also aired. We neither support Tiprland nor Greater Tipraland, the only goal of our party is equitable development all across the state. Basic problems like road, water and health should be addressed making people of the tribal areas capable of leading a normal life.”
On TIPRA’s allegations of fund crunch against the state government and the demand of direct funding, Bhattacharjee said, “I believe there is no scarcity of funds for carrying out development works. It is our government that sanctioned Rs 30 crore for infrastructure development of the hospital at Khumulwng. But, you must have seen that the Janajati Morcha of BJP held a series of protests across the state seeking proper utilization of funds. The funds could be released but whether it is being properly utilized or not should also be monitored.”
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