The BJP, which is already in trouble after its ally IPFT fielding is own candidates in both seats in Tripura, on Tuesday suffered a huge blow as state leader Subal Bhowmik along with two other senior party leaders joined the Congress.
The other two are former minister Prakash Das and firebrand leader Debashish Sen.
Tripura Congress president Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarman and AICC secretary Bhupen Bora welcomed the three leaders at a media conference.
Bhowmik was holding the vice president’s post in BJP. He joined the saffron party in 2015 while Das and Sen came to the party in 2017 from the Congress and the CPI-M respectively.
In a major setback to the year-old BJP-led government in the state, alliance partner IPFT on Saturday had announced their own nominees for the state’s two Lok Sabha seats.
The IPFT nominated party president and revenue minister Narendra Chandra Debbarma from the Tripura East seat and youth leader Sukhla Charan Noatia from the Tripura West