Agartala, Jan 30 (IANS): Just ahead of the February-16 elections, ruling BJP suffered a jolt as one more legislator of the party, Atul Debbarma resigned from the Tripura Assembly and the party on Monday.
Debbarma, a physician-turned-politician, however, submitted his nomination papers on Monday in the Krishnapur assembly constituency in Khowai district as an Independent.
Debbarma and six other sitting BJP MLAs were dropped from the list of party nominees for the next month assembly polls. The ruling BJP this time nominated Bikash Debbarma in the Krishnapur assembly seat.
Out of the total of 60 assembly constituencies, BJP has fielded candidates in 55 seats while its ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) fielded candidates in the remaining five seats.
Atul Debbarma, who is the 6th BJP MLAs and 9th legislator of the BJP-IPFT alliance quit the assembly and their respective parties since 2021, said that he was dropped from the candidates' list and none was informed of him yet.
"In 2018, I resigned from the Delhi government health services and joined BJP and was elected to the assembly from the Krishnapur assembly constituency. I have tried my best to give services to the people. If I do not quit the government job, I can do the job for many more years," the 59-year-old leader told IANS.
He said that due to the tremendous pressure of his supporters and followers, he had to quit the BJP and submit his nomination as an Independent.
Earlier BJP MLAs Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl, Burba Mohan Tripura, Ashis Das, Sudip Roy Barman and Ashis Kumar Saha and IPFT MLAs -- Mevar Kumar Jamatia, Brishaketu Debbarma and Dhananjoy Tripura resigned from the party and the Assembly after open differences with the ruling parties and the government.
Das joined the Trinamool Congress while Roy Barman, also a former BJP minister, Saha and Hrangkhawl joined the Congress.
Burba Mohan Tripura and the three IPFT MLAs joined the influential tribal-based party Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance (TIPRA), headed by former royal scion Pradyot Bikram Manikya Deb Barman.
The TIPRA is now ruling the politically-important 30-member Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC).