Agartala, Feb 8 (IANS): In a setback for the opposition Left parties in Tripura, a veteran CPI leader and three-time MLA on Thursday quit the party and joined Janata Dal (United), party sources said late Thursday night.

The Communist Party of India on late Thursday night sacked the veteran tribal leader from the party permanently.

Communist Party of India state Organising Committee member and former Minister Manindra Reang on Thursday resigned from the party and joined Janata Dal (United).

"The party (CPI) has been ignoring me for several months, so I resigned from the party and joined the JD (U)," Reang told IANS.

CPI's Tripura state secretary Ranjit Majumder said that Reang, who was elected to the Tripura assembly thrice since 1998 and was the minister in the previous Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Front ministry, did not give any resignation letter to the party.

"We (CPI) sacked Reang from the party permanently for anti-party activities. Despite several invitations and intimations, he remained absent from the organisational activities of the party in Tripura," Majumder told IANS.