Congress Miffed Over Violence Against Party Workers in Tripura

Congress has been trying to revive itself in Tripura since 2018 when BJP defeated the Left parties to gain power in the northeastern state, but has been facing violence.

New Delhi: Upset over recent incidents of violence against party workers in Tripura, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has deployed senior leaders and Lok Sabha MPs Tariq Anwar and Gaurav Gogoi to visit the state and submit a report even as the grand old party blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the attacks.

According to party insiders, the high command is concerned over the spread of state-sponsored violence from northeastern state Manipur to Tripura where Congress workers and leaders have been allegedly targeted by BJP-backed goons over the past years.

“The BJP-backed miscreants started house-to-house attacks and are threatening our workers in various parts of the state even since the Panchayat polls were announced. The BJP-sponsored violence aims to stop the Congress workers from filing nominations and unfairly influence the poll results in its favour. Those who want to contest the Panchayat polls for the Congress are being threatened to stay away,” AICC in-charge of Tripura Girish Chodankar told ETV Bharat.

According to Chodankar, after the Panchayat polls were announced on July 11, “Congress workers were attacked in various blocks like Kalyanpur, Mohanpur, Satchand, Tepania, Dukli, Salema and Bishalgarh and their houses were burnt by BJP-backed miscreants.”

The AICC functionary urged PM Modi to intervene in the matter. “I would urge PM Modi to ask his party workers to stop the violence and respect democracy, or else Tripura people will punish the saffron party as they did in Manipur,” Chodankar, also AICC in-charge of Manipur, said.

AICC in-charge of Odisha Ajoy Kumar, who was earlier in-charge of Tripura, too, expressed concern over the recent spate of violence in the northeastern state and slammed the BJP.

“There is state-sponsored terrorism taking place in Manipur and Tripura. The BJP wants to take the country to a point of no return. There have been constant attacks on Congress workers in Tripura. The BJP was not satisfied with social strife in Manipur and now they are creating similar conditions in Tripura. The PM and HM are responsible for this,” said Kumar, a former IPS officer.

According to AICC secretary in-charge of Tripura Szarita Laitphlang, “The state government and the EC must ensure the safety of all political participants to uphold the dignity of the democratic process. We have been flagging our concerns locally also, but to no avail. Recently, several bureaucrats and their families pledged support to the Congress. This signifies an endorsement of our policies in the state.”

According to party insiders, the Congress has been trying hard to revive the party in Tripura where the BJP-led alliance came to power in 2018 after defeating the Left parties.

Since then, the Congress has been at the receiving end of political violence from BJP-backed goons over the past years. Last year, AICC in-charge of Tripura Ajoy Kumar was attacked in Majlishpur during a bike rally in January.

Later in June 2023, around 19 persons, including state unit chief Birajit Sinha and senior leader Sudip Roy Burman, were injured in clashes between Congress and BJP workers in front of the party office.

In August, Burman suffered head injuries during the local yatra in Agartala in which several other leaders and supporters were also injured.