Tripura Congress working president expelled amid speculation over his joining BJP
Agartala (PTI): Tripura Congress working president Billal Mia was expelled from the party shortly after he resigned from the post, amid speculation that he could join the ruling BJP.
After he put in his papers, Mia was expelled from the Congress on Wednesday for anti-party activities, a leader of the grand old party said.
The expulsion came after senior Tripura ministers Ratan Lal Nath and Sushanta Chowdhury met him at his residence in Sonamura in Sepahijala district recently.
"Billal Mia has been expelled from the Congress for six years for indulging in anti-party activities," a senior party leader said.
Mia, who was a former state minister, also resigned from the party.
"The Indian National Congress was my home for the last 44 years and during this period, I have served the party in various capacities.
At present, I am the working president of TPCC. With immediate effect, I hereby resign from all the party posts of INC along with primary membership," Mia said in a letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday.
Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee president Asish Kumar Saha expelled Mia, who was the party's face to minority voters in Sonamura subdivision where by-elections to two assembly constituencies are scheduled to take place on September 5.
Chief Minister Manik Saha and BJP state president Rajib Bhattacharjee are scheduled to attend a mega joining programme at Kulubari under Boxanagar Assembly constituency on Thursday.
A senior BJP leader claimed that Mia and hundreds of Congress workers are likely to join the saffron party in the presence of the chief minister and the state party president ahead of the by-polls.
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Death toll from Israeli strikes in northeast Lebanon rises from 8 to 24, Lebanese news agency says
Deir al-Balah, Nov 1: Israeli airstrikes on Friday killed at least 24 people in northeastern Lebanon, the country's news agency said, raising the death toll from eight there.
It was the latest deadly toll in the area since the conflict between Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah escalated last month.
Israel's military has said that its operation in Lebanon is targeting Hezbollah's military infrastructure.
Lebanon's state National news Agency reported four airstrikes in different villages across country's northeast, saying rescuers were still searching for survivors in Younine, a town in the Bekaa Valley, from the rubble of a targeted house.
Hussein Haj Hassan, a Lebanese lawmaker representing the region in Baalbek-Hermel region, said that 60,000 people have already fled their homes in the area due to Israeli bombardment.
