Agartala, Aug. 1: Tripura Assembly Speaker Ramendra Debnath will decide the fate of six Congress MLAs, who joined Trinamul Congress in May, after August 6.
The Speaker said he had issued showcause notices to six Congress defectors - Sudip Roy Barman, Biswabandhu Sen, Asish Saha, Dibachandra Hrangkhawal, Pranjit Singharoy and Dilip Sarkar.
"They have asked to file their responses by August 6 and only then I will decide their status in the Assembly," said Debnath. He said after the formal defection, the six legislators informed him of their position in a signed letter.
"Subsequently, PCC president Birajit Sinha showed me documents that defector MLA Biswabandhu Sen had been expelled from the party on disciplinary ground before the defection. He even furnished the expulsion order from the AICC," said Debnath.
He added that recently, Sinha had met him again and furnished a number of Supreme Court and high court judgments along with original copies of the expulsion order.
"Sinha has sought a notification of the expelled MLA Biswabandhu Sen as an unattached member. If that happens, the membership of the five other defector MLAs will be terminated based on the provisions of the anti-defection law," he said.
The Speaker added that after receiving appropriate replies from the showcaused MLAs, he would take a decision after August 6.
Though none of the defectors were available for comment, Sinha said the documents, orders and court judgments he had submitted would make it unavoidable for the Speaker to keep their membership.
"As far as I understand, the membership of the five defectors will have to be terminated and Sen will become an unattached member," he said.
Bypoll
The preparation for the August 23 byelection to the Simna-Tamakari ADC constituency in Mohanpur subdivision was gaining momentum.
The bypoll has been necessitated following the death of CPM leader Ranabir Debbarma in June.
The CPM has nominated social activist Kumud Debbarma as its candidate for the bypoll while the IPFT has nominated its young leader Mangal Debbarma.
The other regional party, the INPT, has decided to put up Nirmal Debbarma while the Opposition Congress today announced the name of Kishore Debbarma, a veteran party worker.
The Trinamul has decided to extend its support to the IPFT while the BJP is yet to decide on its candidate.
"If we can minimise the division of anti-Left votes, we will win this seat by a huge margin. Our organisation in Simna-Tamakari is strong and it will help us in the bypoll," said IPFT president Narendra Debbarma.
