AGARTALA, MAY 8: A group of Congress leaders from Tripura, including suspended legislature party leader Sudip Roy Barman, on Sunday met Trinamool Congress leader Mukul Roy in Kolkata to discuss their joining the Mamata Banerjee party, party sources said here.
“Barman accompanied by party’s former state working president Ashish Saha, and Youth Congress’ former state chief Sushanta Chowdhury met Trinamool vice president Mukul Roy on Sunday in Kolkata and discussed about their joining the party,” said a dissident Congress leader.
He said that the leaders would meet Banerjee on Monday to finalise their joining.
Protesting against the Congress’ electoral tie-up with the Left in West Bengal, many top Congress leaders in Tripura including Barman, Saha and Chowdhury quit their posts last month.
The party high command on Saturday suspended Barman and Youth Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Brar took similar action against 14 youth Congress leaders including Chowdhury from the party for an indefinite period. Immediately after the announcement of the suspension, their angry supporters Saturday ransacked the party headquarters and vandalised furniture, computers and other property.
Other senior leaders who have also earlier quit the party on the same issue include women’s front state chief Kalyani Roy and scheduled caste front head Prakash Chandra Das, besides 32 block presidents and many student leaders.
On Sunday, two more senior leaders - Amal Mallik and Balai Goswami - also quit their party posts on the same issue.
Barman, in his resignation letter to party chief Sonia Gandhi, said: “In spite of your understanding of the CPI-M’s unpredictable character, its treacherous role in the past, anti-national thinking and activities and the immense barbaric atrocities upon Congressmen in West Bengal, Tripura and Kerala, you have given the nod to this so-called alliance/seat adjustments.”
He said the party’s alliance with the Left Front led by Communist Party of India-Marxist in Bengal would have a far-reaching political impact at the national level.
Tripura Congress president Birajit Sinha meanwhile said here that all the party leaders who quit their posts and criticised the central leadership would be suspended from the party soon.
Meanwhile, dissident Congress leaders on Sunday organised protest demonstrations and burnt effigies of central and state leaders in various parts of Tripura to protest the Congress-Left tie-up in Bengal.
