AGARTALA, Sept 25 - In another jolt to Tripura Congress, nine leaders of the party, including its vice president, put in their papers today, a day after Pradyot Kishore Debbarman announced his resignation from the post of State unit chief.
Addressing reporters at the Debbarman�s residence here, Tripura Congress general secretary Sridam Debbarma, who is among the nine leaders, said the �royal scion has fallen victim to a conspiracy�.
�Maharaja Pradyot was forced to resign from the party as he sought the implementation of the NRC exercise and refused to compromise with a section of corrupt leaders,� he claimed.
Among others present on the occasion were Dinesh Debbarma, who is also a general secretary of the party, and State unit vice president Sachindra Debbarma.
�Now that we have resigned, many more in the districts and the subdivisions will follow suit to protest against the conspiracy to drive out the �maharaja�. We may form an independent party to protect the interests of people,� Sridam Debbarma said.
He added that the Congress could secure only 1.5 per cent votes in the Assembly elections last year, but after Debabrman took over as the Tripura Congress president in February, organisational strength increased and the party managed to bag 30 per cent votes in the Lok Sabha polls.
Criticising AICC general secretary Luizinho Felerio, who is also in-charge of the NE States, the Tripura Congress general secretary alleged that he is a corrupt leader, and that the party would not be able to win power in the region in the next 50 years if he continues to be at the helm.
Despite repeated attempts, Debbarman, the grandson of erstwhile Tripura king Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya, could not be contacted for his comment.
On Monday, the 41-year-old leader had said the party high command asked him to compromise with a section of State leaders, but he was unable to do so. � PTI
