Tripura TMC MLAs back Ram Nath Kovind, Mamata disassociates from them

Six Trinamool Congress MLAs have decided to back NDA's candidate Kovind instead of party's choice Meira Kumar in the Presidential elections

The Trinamool Congress on Monday announced that it has decided to disassociate itself with party MLAs from Tripura. The decision was taken after MLAs announced that they have decided to vote for NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind as the next President of India.

Defying the party's decision to back opposition's unanimous candidate Meira Kumar, six TMC MLAs from Tripura ha publicly announced that they would vote for Kovind in the July 17 elections. Sudip Roy Barman the chief of TMC in Tripura on Sunday had said that they would not support Meira Kumar who was being backed by the CPM.

"We have decided not to vote for Meira Kumar as she is the Congress candidate enjoying support from the CPM. We want to oust CPM from power in Tripura during next year's Assembly elections and it would not be possible for us to vote for a candidate who is enjoying CPM's support," he said.

A day after MLAs from Tripura made their decision public, the TMC has dissociated itself from them. The MLAs while speaking to reporters on Sunday said that they were not indulging in anti-party activities since no whip was issued regarding the Presidential election. No political party can issue whips asking their MPs and MLAs to vote for a particular candidate in the Presidential election.

OneIndia News