IPFT in crisis as Koloi resigns

AGARTALA, March 10: In a new twist to the ongoing feud in the Indigenous Peoples' Front of Tripura, senior party leader and chief executive of the autonomous district council (ADC) Debabrata Koloi tendered his resignation to the district council chairman Hirendra Tripura. Koloi's letter did not specify why he was resigning from the 28-member council. Neither was he available for comment. His detractors in the IPFT had, in deputation, met Governor Lt. Gen. (retired) Krishna Mohan Seth on March 7. They submitted a memorandum seeking his ouster saying 11 out of 18 elected members in the council demanded his removal. Sources said the "anti-Koloi campaign" was masterminded by party president Harinath Debbarma, an arch rival. This was followed by hectic parleys among elected members. The Governor referred the issue to the government last night and sought its opinion. An emergency Cabinet meeting held this morning decided that the government had no opinion on the matter and said the Governor was free to pursue any course of action under the provisions of the Sixth Schedule. Sources said the party's "invisible friends" (National Liberation Front of Twipra rebels) had intervened directly in the infighting and given the "green signal" for Koloi's ouster after the budget session of the council. This was done to "prevent the ruling CPM from taking any advantage". However, senior IPFT leaders had convinced the "invisible friends" that the CPM would "pose no problems in the budget session". The final directive asking Koloi to step down was passed yesterday, sources said, adding that he took no time in complying with the NLFT diktat. Party sources said resentment against Koloi had been brewing because of the council's failure to provide even minimum relief to the impoverished tribals over the past 10 months.