Arson, vandalism in Tripura after BJP sweeps assembly polls
Highlights
- Left, BJP blame game over post-poll violence in Tripura
- Rajnath Singh speaks to Tripura Governor and police chief
- Lenin's statue razed in Tripura's Belonia town
Clashes between BJP and Left supporters were reported across Tripura over the last 48 hours, after BJP-led alliance swept the Assembly elections in the state, unseating the two-decades-old CPM government of Manik Sarkar. CPM offices were attacked in state capital Agartala and elsewhere; a Lenin statue, situated in the middle of Belonia town in south Tripura, was razed by bulldozers.
Eyewitnesses claimed bulldozers, allegedly brought in by BJP workers, demolished the statue amid chants of
"Bharat Mata Ki Jai", according to reports.
Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, has spoken to the Governor and the police chief of Tripura and asked them to check violence till a new government is in place.
Three people have been arrested over the last 48 hours in Tripura, for what the police has described, as "post-poll' violence. The police said on Monday that it had received four complaints of violence from various parts of the state since Sunday night.
"The cases include arson at two CPI(M) offices at Sidhai area in West Tripura district, 25 km from Agartala, and clashes between CPI(M) and BJP supporters at Kadamtala in North Tripura district", the Superintendent of Police (Control) Pradip De told Press Trust of India.
The CPI (M) tweeted, alleging workers of the Bhartiya Janata party were "spreading fear" in the state.
Tripura CPI(M) secretary, Haripada Das, alleged that over 240 people have been injured in attacks on party offices and offices of Left-backed trade unions; he claimed homes of leaders have also not been spared. Speaking to reporters, Mr Das said that supporters of the BJP and its ally Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) were terrorising Left workers and vandalising party offices since the announcement of poll results on March 3.
"Arson, attacks and loot were carried out in around 1,539 houses. Many rubber gardens, hundreds of small shops, were forcibly occupied, ransacked or burned at around 500 places," CPI-M state secretary and central committee member Bijan Dhar told reporters on Monday night. The party said it has "urged the administration and the BJP leadership to take adequate measures to stop these post-poll violence immediately,".
The BJP claimed that the CPI(M) workers, too, have beaten up 49 of its supporters; 17 of whom had to be hospitalised. On a cautious note, the BJP has warned its leaders and supporters in Tripura of "stern" action if they indulged in "post-poll violence".
The state Vice President of the party, Subal Bhowmick claimed, "A section of unidentified BJP supporters, who migrated from the CPI(M), were creating unrest in parts of the state".
The BJP has sent union ministers, Nitin Gadkari and Jual Oram, as central observers who will be present at the meeting of the newly-elected lawmakers of BJP-IPFT alliance in Agartala. The BJP-IPFT coalition swept the Assembly elections in Tripura, winning 43 of the 59 seats.