BY TC News Desk
Agartala, February 24: In a fresh blow to the Congress in Tripura, Samrat Roy, a close aide of former state party president Birajit Sinha, announced his resignation from the party on Saturday, accusing the central leadership of neglecting the genuine workers and promoting the Barman faction.
Roy, who was the president of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Congress, until he was removed from the post, said he was disillusioned with the party’s functioning and direction. He alleged that the Congress leaders from Delhi were coming to the state only to make money and not to strengthen the party.
He also claimed that he and his supporters had worked hard for the students’ issues and protested against the government’s policies across the state, but their efforts were not recognized by the party. He said he was hurt by the way Birajit Sinha, his mentor and former state Congress chief, was sidelined and replaced by Asish Kumar Saha, a former MLA who had defected to the BJP and then returned to the Congress.
Roy said he had decided to quit the party after sitting idle for several months and watching the Barman group, led by former MLA and current Congress working president Sudip Roy Barman, dominate the party affairs. He said the Barman group had once called Sonia Gandhi a traitor and now they were enjoying the party’s patronage.
He warned the Barman group that he would give them a fitting reply in due course and said he was in touch with other political parties. He said he was hopeful of a positive outcome in the near future.
Roy’s resignation came amid a renewed internal feud in the Congress, which has been struggling to revive its fortunes in the state after losing power to the BJP-IPFT alliance in 2018. The party had recently welcomed back Sudip Roy Barman and Asish Kumar Saha, who had left the Congress and joined the BJP before the last assembly elections. Their return had sparked resentment among some of the old-timers and loyalists of Birajit Sinha, who had distanced himself from the party activities.
The Congress, which had won 10 seats in the 2013 assembly polls, was reduced to zero in the 2018 elections. The party also failed to win any seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2020 civic polls. The party is now gearing up for the 2023 assembly elections, hoping to regain its lost ground.
