TMC legislators in Tripura to vote for Kovind in prez poll

Even though party supremo Mamata Banerjee has voiced her support to opposition's presidential nominee Meira Kumar, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislators in Tripura have decided to vote for NDA candidate Ramnath Kovind on July 17.
"All the six TMC MLAs held a meeting here yesterday and decided to vote for Kovind in the presidential election, because we will not vote someone who is supported by the CPI (M).
"We are fighting hard to oust the CPI(M) from power in Tripura in the 2018 (Assembly) election. So, we cannot vote for Kumar," TMC leader in the state Assembly Sudip Roy Burman told reporters here today.

He added that the TMC MLAs had informed of their decision to BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav, who called them last night urging them to vote for Kovind in the election to the country's top constitutional post.
A week ago, Assam minister and senior BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is also the convener of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), formed last year by the saffron party along with a few other parties in the region, had openly appealed to the TMC MLAs in Tripura to vote for the NDA's candidate in the presidential election.
It maybe recalled that six legislators of opposition Congress in Tripura had defected to the TMC ahead of the West Bengal Assembly polls last year, opposing the Congress-CPI(M) alliance in that state.

Asked about the possibility of the TMC MLAs joining the BJP, Burman declined to comment.
"Only time will tell about our future course of action. We will go to any extent to oust the CPI(M) from power," he said.