Seven Tripura BJP MLAs in New Delhi have been awaiting an audience with the national leadership since Saturday, with mid-term trouble knocking on Chief Minister Biplab Deb’s door.
Sushanta Choudhary, BJP MLA from Tripura, told The Hindu that he and five other MLAs are in Delhi to share some issues with regard to Mr. Deb with national president J.P. Nadda, who is in Bihar.
“We have no issues with the party but feel that Chief Minister Biplab Deb is not delivering on the promises made to the people of Tripura who had elected the BJP with great hopes. We are halfway through the term of this government and nowhere close to the promises made. I and several others left the Congress party to join the BJP as it was the only way to overthrow the CPI(M) government. We feel that the disappointment with the government needs to be addressed,” he said. The team is being led by MLA Sudip Roy Barman and includes Ashish Saha, Ashish Das, Diwan Chandra Rankhal, Burb Mohan Tripura and Parimal Deb Burman.
Incidentally, most of these MLAs had moved to the BJP just before the polls. Sources close to Mr. Deb said Mr. Choudhary and others were resentful at their place within the government rather than any genuine grievance against the government. But dissident MLAs, also considered close to BJP national secretary Sunil Deodhar, assert that they are not without support.
Sources in the BJP say the lack of a general secretary in charge of Tripura, after the exit of Ram Madhav from the national team, is telling on the handling of the State. While sources said general secretary in-charge of the organisation B.L. Santosh had met the group, he did not give them any assurance of a change in leadership.
State BJP president Manik Saha told The Hindu that the team was not acting according to the discipline required to be a member of a political party. “These issues needn’t be aired in public and need to be told within the party forum. I, as president, have not been informed about their trip to Delhi. I’m observing these events and will act soon,” he said.