Trinamool Congress (TMC) today alleged that the Biplab Deb-led Tripura government was trying to create hurdles in the arrangement for the public rally of its national General secretary Abhishek Banerjee after the state police asked them to change its venue citing Covid norms. The rally is scheduled for Sunday in the state capital Agartala.
The Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led party, which is in power in West Bengal, has also alleged that the Tripura government has issued a new SOP making it mandatory to have a negative RT-PCR test report on arrival from West Bengal and a few other states.
The Tripura government has issued fresh guidelines making COVID-19 tests mandatory for people entering Tripura from a state that has more than one district with over a five per cent positivity rate. The state has recorded as many as 84,449 Covid-19 cases and 813 deaths so far.
TMC All India General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee was scheduled to hold a program in front of the Rabindra Bhavan in Agartala on Sunday. Permission was sought from the state police on behalf of the Trinamool Congress.
The party held a protest demonstration in front of the Rabindra Bhavan. Mr Banerjee's rally in Tripura has been blocked thrice before. It was first slated to happen on September 15. However, permission was denied by authorities, who said another political party had a program on the same day. Approval was then sought for September 16, which was also denied. Finally, a rally was planned for September 23. The permission issue went to court and the government then pointed to Covid-induced restrictions and imposed section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) that prohibits "unlawful assembly".
"First, they suddenly brought in the new mandatory RT-PCR rule, secondly now they want us to change the venue to a field. Will Covid not spread in the field? Does Covid ask Biplab Deb (Tripura's Chief Minister) the place where its outbreak would take place?" Sushmita Dev, Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament nominated by the TMC said.
The police have said that the request for a change in the venue was communicated 48 hours in advance but the party was late in responding. "We are not stopping them but asking them to change the venue as their gathering will be large. We are giving them a larger venue so that distance can be maintained as per Covid norms," Ramesh Yadav, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Tripura police, said.
Senior TMC leader Partha Chatterjee claimed that the Tripura government is scared of the party's national general secretary and is using its machinery to stop his rally on Sunday.
Responding to the taunts, BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh claimed that the TMC was trying to "import the politics of violence" in Tripura from Bengal
"People of Tripura do not want the TMC. It is the TMC that is continuously meddling into the affairs of Tripura and trying to import the politics of violence from Bengal. The party is trying to destabilise the situation in Tripura," the BJP leader said.
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