Agartala, Sep 2 (IANS): In a sudden political development, Tripura Assembly Speaker Rebati Mohan Das on Thursday resigned from his post citing "personal reasons", a top official said.

Tripura assembly Secretary Bishnu Pada Karmakar, confirming the unexpected development, told IANS that Das submitted his resignation letter to Deputy Speaker Biswa Bandhu Sen.

Das is a former CPI-M leader who joined the BJP in 2016 and was elected to the state assembly in the 2018 polls on a saffron party ticket from the western Tripura's Pratapgarh assembly segment.

Bharatiya Janata Party leaders including state President Manik Saha and chief spokesman Subrata Chakraborty refused to comment on the sudden political development.

Amidst open resentment by a section of ruling BJP MLAs and leaders in Tripura, three new faces -- Ram Prasad Paul, Sushanta Chowdhury, Bhagaban Chandra Das -- were on Tuesday inducted into the Tripura cabinet in its first expansion after the BJP-IPFT alliance assumed office in March 2018 after defeating the Left parties in the assembly polls.