Tripura Cong chief quits post, later withdraws resignation
AGARTALA: Tripura Congress chief Pijush Kanti Biswas on Saturday resigned from the party post citing “lack of support from the state unit” but withdrew the resignation later in the day after speaking to the party’s state incharge.
Biswas’s resignation triggered speculation that he could join the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which has been trying to make inroads in the state. Earlier in the week, 48-year-old Sushmita Dev quit the Congress to join the Mamata Banerjee-led party.
“Cooperation and unity are necessary to make Congress strong. Though I got support from the Congress high command, the expected cooperation was not in Tripura. Even a section of leaders from the party tried to spoil my efforts for the betterment of the party. If I failed to deliver proper results due to lack of cooperation, I did not want to be blamed and that is why I have resigned,” Biswas said earlier on Saturday.
However, later in the day, he took back his resignation after holding talks with former Lok Sabha MP and Congress state incharge Ajoy Kumar, who Biswas said assured to resolve his concerns.
“Tripura Congress incharge Ajoy Kumar assured to meet me and solve all the issues that I have mentioned earlier. I had resigned from the party president post and not from the Congress. If the party incharge solves all the issues, then I have no problem. Based on his assurances, I withdrew my resignation letter,” said Biswas.
Biswas, a lawyer, helped a team of 23 members of the Indian Political Action Committee secure bail after they were booked for violating Covid-19 norms. The team was in Agartala as part of TMC’s poll preparations ahead of the 2023 elections. In an official statement, Kumar’s office said: “Tripura Congress president Pijush Kanti Biswas, after being assured by Tripura Congress prabhari Dr. Ajoy Kumar, has taken his resignation back. Dr. Ajoy Kumar talked to Pijush Kanti Biswas and assured to take all the issues into serious concern and solve them.”