Speaker allows 6 Cong MLAs who joined TMC to retain membership

Agartala, Aug 29 (PTI) Six Congress MLAs who had joinedTrinamool Congress in Tripura in May this year have beenallowed by the Speaker to keep their membership of the60-member House. Speaker Ramendra Debnath said "I have heard the views ofthe six MLAs led by former Leader of the Opposition Sudip RoyBurman, who joined TMC and also heard the view of the TripuraPradesh Congress President, Birajit Sinha. "I have also taken the opinion of legal experts. They donot come under anti-defection act. So, their membership ofthe state Assembly is valid." The Speaker, however, said they would not get the statusof Leader of the Opposition because in a 60-member House, atleast ten MLAs were required to get the status. Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee would later beelected from TMC, he said. Sudip Roy Burman, former leader of the opposition, toldreporters that he would write a letter to the Speaker to givethem the status of the leader of the opposition because thestrength of six MLAs would be enough to get the status. Meanwhile, Congress expressed disappointment over theSpeaker’s decision and described it as ‘politicallymotivated’. "We are examining the Speaker’s order and exploringwhether the same can be challenged in court," former CongressMLA and spokesman Tapas De said. Those who had joined TMC from opposition Congress areSudip Roy Barman, Ashish Saha, Biswabandhu Sen, Diba ChandraHrangkhawl, Pranjit Singha Roy and Dilip Sarkar. Roy Barman and the five MLAs had resigned from Congress inprotest against the partyÂ’s alliance with the Left parties forthe West Bengal Assembly elections. Another Congress legislator, Jitendra Sarkar, resignedfrom the Tripura Assembly and rejoined the ruling CommunistParty of India-Marxist (CPI-M). PTI JOY MMSMJ