Political violence in Tripura affects reputation of party, PM: BJP MLAs

Agartala: Dissident BJP MLAs on Tuesday said that the political violence in Tripura damaged the reputation and credibility of the party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and this might affect the party’s poll prospects in the upcoming assembly elections in five states including Uttar Pradesh.

Rebel MLAs of the ruling BJP Sudip Roy Barman and Ashis Kumar Saha said that the Supreme Court, Tripura High Court and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had to intervene into the recent political violence in Tripura ahead of Thursday’s civic polls.

“About the political violence causing damage to the reputation and credibility of the BJP, we have apprised in details to National President J.P. Nadda, National General Secretary (Organisation) B. L. Santhosh and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday,” Barman told the media. Without naming Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, Barman termed him as “paratrooper leader” and said that BJP’s mantra is ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’.

“If the BJP government in Tripura during its 44 months of governance has done development, why so much of violence to win the polls. No party can survive by creating enmity among the people.”

The BJP MLA, also a former minister, said that Tripura witnessed so many Chief Ministers but the incumbent Chief Minister is not following any political grammar. “Despite so much of political violence in Tripura, the state Home Minister (Biplab Kumar Deb) has made no statement. Police turned into powerless tools. CPI-M goons entered into the party and they are being utilised to obtain political gain,” he claimed.

Urging the people, various organisations, local clubs to prevent the political violence and ensure peaceful and fair elections in the Thursday’s civic polls, Barman said that Tripura always witnesses elections in festive mood but this time a reign of terror is going on.

Terming the prevailing Tripura situation as very serious, the BJP MLA earlier this month wrote to the Director General of Police V.S. Yadav to declare certain areas as vulnerable and hyper sensitive and ensure peaceful balloting. The open dissent and internal dispute in the ruling BJP began after Barman, who was holding the Health and Information Technology departments, was sacked from the ministry in May 2019 following differences with Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb.

On October 31, a BJP MLA and a scheduled Caste leader Ashis Das joined the Trinamool Congress here at a rally in presence of the party’s National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

The BJP is yet to take any action against Das. Das and four other BJP MLAs — Sudip Roy Barman, Ashis Kumar Saha, Diba Chandra Hrangkhawl, and Burba Mohan Tripura – in August held a big gathering in Agartala which was attended by many local BJP leaders and workers.

To plug the rebellion in the organisation and to set the governance right, several central party leaders led by BJP’s North East Zonal Secretary (Organisation), Ajay Jamwal, had rushed to the state several times. In the presence of the central leaders, three BJP MLAs — Ram Prasad Paul, Sushanta Chowdhury, Bhagaban Chandra Das — were on August 31 inducted into the Tripura cabinet in its first expansion after the BJP-IPFT (Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura) alliance assumed office in March 2018. – IANS