Congress issues show-cause notice to Tripura leader

FROM A CORRESPONDENT

Agartala, April 10: The Congress has issued a show-cause notice to its Tripura unit leader Sudip Roy Barman, days after he resigned as the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader to protest the party’s alliance with the Left Front in West Bengal. The party has warned Barman of discipliry action if he failed to explain his position properly within a fortnight.

Congress general secretary V. rayasamy in the show-cause notice to Barman said, “If you  have any views on the Congress having an understanding with the Communist Party of India-Marxist in Bengal, you could have expressed your views to the Congress president persolly.”

rayasamy, who is in charge of the party affairs in north-eastern states, told Barman that by criticising the party’s alliance with ten Left Front through the media, he deliberately acted in a way calculated to lower the prestige of the Congress and carry out propaganda against the party leadership. Barman, who is the opposition leader in the Tripura assembly, on Thursday resigned as Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader in the assembly, protesting his party’s tie-up with the Left Front in West Bengal. In his resigtion letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he said the alliance would prove “harmful” to the Congress. On Friday, four more Congress leaders quit party positions on the issue. They are Tripura Congress working president Ashish Saha, state Youth Congress president Sushanta Chowdhury, West Tripura Lok Sabha constituency Youth Congress president Viki Prasad, and East Tripura Lok Sabha constituency Youth Congress chief Rantu Deb. Meanwhile, Tripura Congress president Birajit Sinha and some others party leaders have said they would abide by central leadership’s decision on the alliance with the Left parties. “We will abide by central leadership’s decision on the issue. Congress leaders’ resigtions are unfortute,” said Sinha, a sitting lawmaker and former minister of Tripura. Informed sources said a few other Congress leaders close to Barman and Saha might quit party posts either to form a new party or join the Trimool Congress of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in Tripura.