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The Congress on Tuesday claimed that Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Birajit Sinha will not resign from the party as reported in a section of news media. Szarita Laitphlang, who is All India Congress Committee national secretary in charge of Tripura and two other northeastern States, said fake news was planted at the ‘behest of ruling BJP’.
News has been circulating in various news outlets regarding alleged tussle in Tripura Congress leadership and Mr. Sinha getting upset for being constantly getting ‘sidelined’ by party MLA and former Health Minister Sudip Roy Barman and his coterie. He had reportedly made up his mind to quit the Congress and join another party.
“I, on behalf of the AICC, want to clarify that Birajit Sinha will not leave the party and reports are completely false. I request the BJP to not plant fake news like this to score political mileage,” Ms. Laitphlang told mediapersons at the Congress Bhavan here in the presence of Mr. Barman.
Mr. Sinha, however, has not yet made a categorical statement denying a rift in the party. He even had a brawl with the journalists on Tuesday at Belonia in south Tripura where he went to oversee the organisation.
“Please get out of here. You are an agent of the BJP and involved in paid news,” he lashed out at a journalist during a media briefing programme.
Mr. Sinha, who was a Minister in the Congress-led coalition government from 1988 to 1993, was made PCC chief for the third time. He was close to former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, but they did not meet after the latter parted ways with the party.
A Congress leader, on condition of anonymity, said the Congress high command was convinced that under Mr. Sinha’s leadership the party had weakened in Tripura and it was losing elections due to the projection of wrong candidates. He said that the AICC would appoint a new PCC president next month and the likely face for the job was Ashish Kumar Saha who along with Mr. Barman had left the BJP.
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