AGARTALA: Congress leader Gaurav Gogi on Friday sharply criticised the Manik Saha-led Bharatiya Janata Party government in Tripura over a string of incidents ahead of panchayat elections scheduled to be held next month, saying the Congress will not allow the state to turn into another Manipur.
“Tripura is currently witnessing a breakdown of democracy. Leaders and cadres of the BJP have unleashed unimaginable violence against @INCIndia workers and supporters. Homes have been gutted, property vandalised, innocents arbitrarily arrested. Even children are not spared from assault,” Gogoi, the deputy leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, said in a post on X after leading a delegation of his party to violence-affected areas of the state.
At a Press conference in Agartala, Gogoi underlined that the Congress stood with its leaders and workers during this difficult time. “The Congress will not bow down to terror tactics of the BJP,” he told reporters at a media briefing at the party’s state headquarters .
“PM Narendra Modi is saying that India is the mother of democracy but what we saw here is nothing short of murder of democracy,” he said. “The unrest, that is prevailing in the state, it seems that they want to convert Tripura into a second Manipur. We shall not let it happen,” he added, referring to ethnic clashes that have rocked Manipur since May 2023, leading to the death of at least 220 people including security personnel in the state.
Senior Congress MP Tariq Anwar, who was part of the Congress delegation that met governor Indrasena Reddy Nallu on Thursday, said the law and order situation in Tripura had collapsed. “Our candidates could not file their nominations due to attacks on them. There is no system of law and order here. We yesterday requested the governor to intervene in the constitutional breakdown and ensure that panchayat poll can take place peacefully so that all parties can take part”.
{{/usCountry}}Senior Congress MP Tariq Anwar, who was part of the Congress delegation that met governor Indrasena Reddy Nallu on Thursday, said the law and order situation in Tripura had collapsed. “Our candidates could not file their nominations due to attacks on them. There is no system of law and order here. We yesterday requested the governor to intervene in the constitutional breakdown and ensure that panchayat poll can take place peacefully so that all parties can take part”.
{{/usCountry}}Congress Working Committee member Sudip Roy Barman said the Congress’s 3,383 candidates could not submit their nominations for the panchayat polls due to violence. “There is lawlessness in the state. I, myself came under attack for the eighth time. I filed cases mentioning the names of the accused persons but none of them have been arrested till now”, he said.
The CPM had previously approached the Tripura high court in this context, which led the high court bench to direct the State Election Commission, which conducts panchayat elections, to take steps for free and fair elections.
Senior advocate Purushottam Roy Barman said the high court said the government could amend the law to allow candidates to file nominations online in future.
Tripura BJP president Rajib Bhattacharya said the opposition parties were attempting to mislead people. “In reality, the Opposition didn’t find the candidates. But we have fielded candidates in gram panchayat, panchayat samiti and district parishad. We believe people will make us win in the panchayat polls”.