Tripura speaker to decide fate of 6 MLAs after July 15

FROM A CORRESPONDENT

Agartala, July 4: Tripura assembly Speaker Ramendra th will take a fil decision on the fate of six MLA’s, who defected from Congress and joined Trimool Congress, after July 15. The Speaker told this to the president of the Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee Birajit Sinha.

Sinha being summoned by the speaker today met him to submit arguments in support of his allegation that five of these six MLA’s have violated the provisions of the Anti-defection Law and liable to be disqualified as MLA.

He argued that though the defectors claim to be a group of six, they were actually five, as he had expelled one of them, Biswa Bandhu Sen, on  June 5 and duly informed the speaker. So he became an uttached member and no longer belongs to Congress when they met the speaker to tell that they have

joined TMC on June 6.

Sinha accompanied by one of his party advocate Hare Krish Bhowmik also submitted several verdicts of the Supreme Court and various High Courts in support of his argument. After hearing them the speaker said he will take a fil decision on the matter after July 15 and if he wants to submit more documents in support of his claim may submit by then.

The Six MLA’s Sudip Roy Barman, Ashish Saha, Diba Chandra Hrangkhawal, Dilip Sarkar, Prajit Sinha Roy and Biswa Bandhu Sen had defected from Congress on June 6 and submitted a petition to the speaker that they have joined Trimool Congress. They claimed that it was not a defection but a split in Congress Legislative Party as at that time the Congress had nine MLA’s and six construed more than two third which is the minimum requirement for effecting a split as per the Anti-defection Law.

However, if the speaker accept PCC’s claim about Biswa Bandhu’s expulsion the group will be reduced to five and will uble to fulfill this minimum requirement. So, fate of the six MLA’s is now hanging in the hand of the speaker.

Meanwhile, Biswa Bandhu Sen rejected the PCC president’s claim and said he had never received any show cause notice or expulsion order which is mandatory as per the Congress constitution. Thus the claim is totally baseless.