Agartala, Sep 20 (PTI) Rebel IPFT MLA Brishaketu Debbarma, who tendered his "resignation" last year as a member of the Tripura assembly, was declared disqualified for not following the rules of resignation, Speaker Ratan Chakraborty said on Tuesday.As per the norms, any member of the assembly who wants to resign must meet the speaker and hand over his resignation letter but he did not follow the procedure, Chakraborty said."Brishaketu Debbarma, who is an MLA from West Tripura"s Simna constituency, had sent his resignation letter through a messenger, which is a gross violation of the norms," he said, addressing a press conference.Debbarma did not obey the party whip during the election of Rajya Sabha and remained absent from voting, he said, adding that the IPFT leader was seen in Tipra Motha programmes.Indigenous People"s Front of Tripura (IPFT) is an ally of the ruling BJP in the state."Also, Debbarma did not take permission from his party before tendering the resignation. Keeping all aspects in mind, I declared him disqualified as a member of the state assembly," the speaker said.Following the disqualification, IPFT"s strength went down from eight to seven in the 60-member House. The BJP has 36 MLAs, CPI(M) has 15 legislators and the Congress has one MLA.Asked if Debbarma would be allowed to contest the next assembly election, the speaker said he would report the matter to the Election Commission for taking a decision. PTI PS SOM SOM