CPM to raise demolition of Lenin’s statues, Tripura post-poll violence in Parliament

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury who was on a two-day visit to Tripura said the Marxist ideology cannot be destroyed by toppling statues of its icons.

CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Sunday said that the party would raise in Parliament the issue of violence allegedly unleashed by workers of the BJP and its ally the IPFT and the demolition of Russian revolution leader Vladimir Lenin’s statues in Tripura.

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Tripura's former chief minister Manik Sarkar on Sunday visiting the site where Lenin’s statue was toppled in Belonia. (PTI)

“Whatever happened in the state is anti-democratic and anti-Constitutional. I will talk to the other opposition parties about it and it will surely be raised in Parliament. A party can win and a party can lose elections, but that doesn’t allow the winning party to unleash attacks on the other. Violation of democratic rights is unacceptable,” Yechury told journalists at the CPI(M) headquarters.

He also said that these issues would also be brought to the Centre’s attention. Yechury who landed in Agartala on Saturday for a two-day tour of Tripura, visited Belonia where Lenin’s statue was toppled. Sabroom was another town where another statue of the Marxist icon was pulled down.

Criticising the BJP for toppling the statues and alleged attacks on CPI (M) workers, he said that the Marxist ideology can’t be pulled down.

“Reign of terror prevails in most of the rural areas of the state. Many party offices were ransacked, looted, gutted and some were even occupied and the comrades were forcefully driven out of their places. All the attacks were pre-planned and not spontaneous. If the BJP desires to rule Tripura without opposition, they are mistaken,” he said.

He appealed to the new BJP government to ensure an end to the violence and threats of extortion by providing compensation for loss of properties, provide proper medical treatment and return occupied party offices to the right owners.

Referring to the electoral defeat, Yechury said the party would analyse the elections to examine the reasons for the setback.

Replying to a query on promoting young faces, he said, “What is required is an alternative policy rather than an alternative leader.”