The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Wednesday took aim at both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC), accusing the two rivals of turning politics into a blood sport in West Bengal and Tripura.
The Old Guard of Bengal [CPI(M] has found itself wagging a disapproving finger at both sides after Tuesday’s incident of vandalism outside the TMC’s state headquarters in Agartala.
CPI(M) politburo member and Tripura Opposition Leader Jitendra Chaudhury, per The Indian Express, said that the clashes between the TMC and BJP in both states were direct “attacks on democracy.”
Notably, tension had erupted in Agartala on Tuesday when a group of BJP supporters pulled down TMC flags, flexes, and campaign materials outside the party office. The BJP later described the act as a “token protest” against the assault on BJP MP Khagen Murmu and MLA Shankar Ghosh in West Bengal a day earlier.
TMC delegation stranded at Agartala Airport
The Indian Express also reported that a six-member TMC delegation was stranded at Agartala’s Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport for nearly three hours on Wednesday. The delegation claimed cab drivers were intimidated and warned not to ferry them to the city. “Tripura was reeling under a reign of terror under the BJP,” the TMC team alleged.
“The BJP has damaged party offices of other parties or properties of other individuals whom they don’t like. They have been doing these since they came to power, including bulldozing different party offices. Shortly before Durga Puja, assailants destroyed furniture of five party offices in different areas during the night and destroyed the corridors and doors of some party offices,” Chaudhury accused, per the Indian Express.
He also couldn’t resist pointing out the irony that the “vandalism” in front of the TMC headquarters took place “less than half a km” from the Chief Minister’s residence.
“They took out a procession and vandalised that party office (of TMC). It was touted as a reply to the attack on BJP MP and MLAs in Bengal. Many (violent) incidents are indeed occurring at the behest of the ruling party in West Bengal, and these are condemnable,” he added.
“They should be opposed in the presence of the police. Both incidents are attacks on democracy and are equally condemnable.”
Meanwhile, the TMC delegation, Pratima Mondal, Saayoni Ghosh, Birbaha Hansda, Kunal Ghosh, Sudip Raha, and Sushmita Dev met Tripura DGP Anurag Dhyankar and demanded the arrest of those involved in Tuesday’s vandalism.
