For party ticket, CPIM MLA and Ex-TMC president joins BJP

Agartala: In an electoral surprise, former Trinamool Congress Tripura president Subal Bhowmik and disgruntled CPIM MLA Mobossar Ali joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Delhi on Friday evening.

Both the leaders are reportedly going to get a BJP ticket for the 2023 assembly elections. Both joined the saffron camp in the presence of BJP North East Coordinator Sambit Patra, CM Dr. Manik Saha, BJP State President Rajiv Bhattacharjee, Tripura Prabhari Dr. Mahesh Sharma etc.
Both the newcomers cited PM Modi’s vision for the Northeast and welfare schemes for the poor as the reason for their involvement. However, party insiders believe that he has joined the BJP to get the party ticket.
Subal Bhowmik, who was the president of the BJP’s Tripura unit, was unceremoniously removed from the post after the party’s poor performance in the urban polls. After a period of political exile, he rejoined the BJP after a gap of a few years.
Former Congressman Bhowmik switched his allegiance to the BJP in 2016 and worked hard to organize the party. He was made the BJP’s vice-president but due to differences, particularly with former chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb who was also the party president at the time, Bhowmik was removed. In 2019, he left the party when he was not given a Lok Sabha ticket. He contested the Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket, but his tenure in the Congress was also short-lived.
He joined the Trinamool during the civic body elections and was appointed the state president, but was again removed by the party.
Mabusar Ali, the first-time CPIM MLA from Kailashhar, failed to get the ticket this time as the Left parties ceded the seat to the Congress party. Located in Annakoti district, Kailashahar is the home ground of Tripura Pradesh Congress President Birajit Sinha who lost the last election in a three-way fight between Congress, CPIM and BJP. Disgruntled with the development, Ali joined the BJP to seek a ticket from his home constituency.

Addressing the engagement programme, all the leaders credited Prime Minister Modi for Tripura’s overall development.