Trinamool claims attack on partymen in Tripura, BJP denies

Several Trinamool leaders, including the party's national General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee and chief spokesman Kunal Ghosh, made a series of tweets on these incidents and demanded the arrest of the attackers.

Agartala (Tripura): The Trinamool Congress on Saturday claimed that at least seven of its leaders and workers were seriously injured after their vehicle and a party office was allegedly attacked by the ruling BJP members in separate incidents in Tripura. Several Trinamool leaders, including the party's national General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee and chief spokesman Kunal Ghosh, made a series of tweets on these incidents and demanded the arrest of the attackers. They also alleged that the miscreants had pelted stones at their vehicle which was undesirable in a democratic state.

"The goons of BJP Tripura have shown their true colours! This barbaric attack on Trinamool workers reveals the 'goonda raj' in Tripura under BJP Biplab's (Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb) govt! Your threats and attacks only prove your inhumanity. Do what you can. Trinamool will not budge an inch," Banerjee said in a tweet. The convoy of Banerjee, who is also a Lok Sabha member, was attacked, allegedly by the BJP workers, during his visit to Tripura.

Abhishek Banerjee Tweets

Banerjee also tweeted that he would be visiting Tripura once again to stand beside the TMC leaders who were subjected to political vengeance.

Abhishek Banerjee Tweets

READ: TMC terms Modi govt' passing bills without debate as 'autocracy'

Ghosh said that seven party leaders and workers, including youth leaders Debangshu Bhattacharya, Sudip Raha and Jaya Dutta from West Bengal, were injured when they were attacked by BJP workers at Ambassa in Dhalai district. He said a Trinamool party office was totally damaged by the ruling party workers at Dharmanagar in the North Tripura district. "Instead of arresting the attackers, the police detained several of our leaders and workers, including Subal Bhowmik, in Dharmanagar on Saturday night. We would meet the Governor (Satyadev Narayan Arya) soon to demand the arrest of the BJP goons. The Trinamool will not tolerate the BJP government's jungle raj," Ghosh said.

The opposition CPI-M has also condemned the alleged attack on Trinamool, saying that democracy has been totally throttled under the BJP government in the state since March 2018. Strongly denying the charges, the BJP claimed that the Trinamool is entirely a non-factor in Tripura and the ruling party of West Bengal is trying to spread the "virus of political violence" in the northeastern state, where "outsiders" with the backing of CPI-M are fomenting trouble and lawlessness.

READ: Trinamool MPs cycle to Parliament to protest fuel price hike

BJP spokesman Nabendu Bhattacherjee said that over 500 party workers and members from West Bengal took shelter in Tripura while hundreds of others went to Assam after being attacked by the Trinamool workers in Bengal following the declaration of Assembly election results there in May. He also demanded a high-level probe into both the incidents in Dharmanagar and in Ambassa. Protesting against the alleged attacks, Trinamool workers led by Subal Bhowmik, who along with other leaders quit the Congress last month and joined the Trinamool, staged a road blockade on National Highway-8 in Dharmanagar, prompting the police to fire tear gas shells to disperse the mob and bring the situation under control.

The road blockade forced Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb to take a detour while returning to a helipad on the outskirts of Dharmanagar town after attending some programmes at the district headquarters.

AGENCY INPUT