Six sacked Tripura TMC MLAs join BJP

Six Trinamool Congress MLAs, who were sacked from the party for voting for NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind during the presidential elections, formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday.

The MLAs along with their supporters joined the BJP in a public meeting on Monday in the presence of Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, party General Secretary and Ram Madhav, Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, and State party president Biplab Deb and the party's Tripura observer Sunil Deodhar.

Speaking at the public event, Convener of North-East Democratic Alliance and Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, said that India will continue to support Prime Minister Modi and that he should remain the Prime Minister for many years to come.

He also said that the BJP government, with the help of Modi, will take over in the state of Tripura and Tripura will progress towards development.

He blamed the current Communist Party of India (CPI) government in Tripura for the state's current situation. He said, "The CPI-M has worsened the situation of the state. Every time I come to the state, a BJP worker has been killed. There are nearly 5 cases of physical assault recorded every day"

He also pointed out to the fact that more than 7 lakh people in Tripura are unemployed in Tripura.

"The people in the BJP ruled states are employed and get good remuneration for the work they do. But in Tripura, the people don't get anything" Biswa said.

He also said that there wasn't a hint of development in Tripura.

Former Leader of Opposition in Tripura Assembly Sudip Roy Barman and five other MLAs had quit the Congress in protest against the party's electoral understanding with the CPI (M) in the 2016 West Bengal Assembly elections and had joined the TMC. They were, however, sacked from TMC after they had openly announced their support for Kovind.