Six Tripura Trinamool Congress MLAs, who had been sacked for supporting the National Democratic Alliance’s presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind, will formally join the Bharatiya Janata Party on August 7. The MLAs and their supporters will join the saffron party during a public meeting on Monday, reported PTI.
“The MLAs will meet BJP president Amit Shah in Delhi tomorrow,” said BJP spokesperson Victor Shom, according to PTI. “Their joining was finalised earlier following discussion with our central leaders.”
General Secretary Ram Madhab, Convener of North-East Democratic Alliance and Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, State party President Biplab Deb and the party’s Tripura observer Sunil Deodhar will also be present at the meeting.
The sacked MLAs had defied party leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s decision to support the Opposition’s candidate Meira Kumar in the presidential election. They had said they would not vote for a candidate who was supported by the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
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