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Regular-article-logo Friday, 18 July 2025

TMC leader in Tripura

Mukul Roy fails to engineer split in Congress

Our Special Correspondent Published 04.06.16, 12:00 AM
Mukul Roy

Agartala, June 3: The all-India general secretary of the Trinamul Congress, Mukul Roy, arrived here today but failed to achieve the numbers required to bring about a formal split in the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) and termed the day's visit "personal".

Roy was received at the airport by Sudip Roy Barman, the dissident Leader of the Opposition in the Tripura Assembly who had resigned from his post on March 27 this year to protest the Congress-CPM alliance in Bengal.

Roy Barman was accompanied by his close followers, former Youth Congress president Sushanta Chowdhury, former NSUI president Vicky Prasad and supporting MLAs Asish Saha, Dibachandra Hrangkhawal, Pranjit Singha Roy and Biswabhandhu Sen.

The general secretary met Roy Barman and his followers at the MLAs hostel. He then met MLA Dilip Sarkar to try and persuade him to join the dissidents in leaving the Congress.

However, Sarkar said he could not arrive at a decision without consulting his party workers and supporters and asked for some more time. Another sitting MLA and former Speaker Jiten Sarkar met Roy but told him that he would not leave the Congress to join the Trinamul for the time being.

"I am not leaving the Congress now," said Sarkar.

Sources among the dissidents and the Trinamul-bound camp said in the 60-member Tripura Assembly, the Congress has a strength of only 10 MLAs.

"In order to skirt the anti-defection law and save the membership of the Assembly, the seven MLAs have to leave the party to make it a formal split according to the law but including himself, Roy Barman is able to cobble up a group of six MLAs," said a highly placed source close to Roy Barman.

However, interacting reporters before departing for Calcutta in the evening, Roy said the Trinamul would soon emerge as the main Opposition in the Tripura Assembly.

"At this stage I cannot disclose anything but rest assured Trinamul will emerge as the real Opposition force in Tripura and will oust the Left Front in the 2018 Assembly polls," he said.

He, however, described today's visit as "personal", aimed only at meeting old friends.

He also met regional INPT and IPFT leaders Bijay Kumar Hrangkhawal and Rajeshwar Debbarma and senior Trinamul leaders Ratan Chakraborty and Dulal Das.

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