In a dramatic turn of events, Congress legislator Jitendra Sarkar resigned from the Tripura assembly and said he was rejoining the ruling CPI-M.
Assembly Speaker Ramendra Chandra Debnath told that Sarkar submitted his resignation to him and he had accepted it.
Immediately after his resignation, Sarkar told the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) that he would rejoin the party.
The development came amid reported efforts by the Trinamool Congress to split the Congress legislators' group.
A former veteran leader of the CPI-M and a former speaker of the Tripura assembly, Sarkar joined the Congress with his supporters in March 2010.
The 71-year-old Sarkar was elected to the assembly five times since 1978 from Teliamura constituency in west Tripura. But he was denied re-nomination by the CPI-M in 2008.
