india

Updated: Sep 18, 2019 13:02 IST

Congress Tripura president Pradyot Debbarman on Tuesday resigned from his post alleging differences with party general secretary in-charge of the Northeast Luizinho Falerio.

In his letter, Debbarman alleged that Luizinho had asked him to withdraw his case in the Supreme Court, where he had made a plea for the updating of the National Register of Citizens. Debbarman alleged that Falerio had asked him to either drop the case or leave the party.

The letter, sources said, was marked to the Gandhis as well as Falerio.

Debbarman told HT that his endeavour to build the party in the state, after its vote share fell to 1% in the last Assembly elections, faced several roadblocks. “My first commitment is to my community -- to the Tiprasa people -- then to the party. I am resigning because it was untenable for me to stay within the party,” he said. He refuted speculations that he will join the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Luizinho Falerio, however, dismissed the allegations and said that Pradyot was a dear friend. He also said that he has not received any resignation letter. “There are no differences; Pradyot is a dear friend and will continue to be so. As far as NRC is concerned, among the Bengali population of the state, who are a majority, this is a bone of contention. As the party president, Pradyot has to take everyone along. My quest to keep everybody together,” Falerio said.

Differences between the two leaders has been brewing for a while. During the meet last week that party president Sonia Gandhi held with general secretaries, CMs and CLP leaders, Debbarman had caused a stir by stating that the party should invest in ways of attracting more young people in its fold, instead of working out ways of Gandhi Jayanti celebrations.

A day later, during a meeting if the party’s Northeast leaders, Debbarman had spoken out against Falerio in front of other leaders. A dispute over the party’s stand on the NRC had erupted during the meeting.

Last year, during the Tripura Assembly elections Debbarman had almost left the party owing to differences with state leaders but was asked by then party president Rahul Gandhi to stay back.

While the party registered only 1% vote share in the Assembly elections with no MLAs winning from the party, Debbarman was made the president of the state ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. While the party did not win any of Tripura’s two Lok Sabha seats, the party managed to take the vote share to over 30% leading to Rahul Gandhi’s high praise amidst a dismal performance by the party across the country.