Tripura new battleground for BJP-TMC showdown

Shubhadeep Choudhury

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Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 2

In a bid to arouse feelings of regionalism, Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Monday said BJP leaders from Gujarat and north India were running Tripura.

“I do not blame Biplap babu (Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb). He has been made a sacrificial goat. There is a remote control … whichever button is pressed in Delhi, that channel will play in Tripura,” Banerjee said.

“Aspiration of the local people of Tripura does not really matter to the state government. They follow orders from Delhi. Whatever BJP leaders from Gujarat and north India decide, they (state government) will have to follow. The BJP tried it in Bengal also but fell flat on the face,” Banerjee said while addressing a press conference at Agartala, capital of Tripura.

Having successfully manipulating Bengali sentiments to inflict a crushing defeat on the BJP in West Bengal, the TMC has set its eye on Bengali-speaking Tripura where the Assembly elections are slated to take place in January 2023.

Abhishek Banerjee’s convoy on Monday had a brush with angry BJP supporters when he went to Udaipur near Agartala to offer his obeisance at the famous temple there dedicated to state’s guardian deity “Tripureshwari”.

BJP supporters assembled by the roadside shouted “go back” at Banerjee and also showed him the black flag. The TMC leader’s SUV was also hit with sticks by the supporters of the ruling party in Tripura.

A video tweeted by Abhishek showed that the windscreen of the vehicle developed a crack after it was hit by a BJP supporter with a stick. Abhishek later claimed that three of his security personnel received serious injuries in the “attack”.

Banerjee told reporters that he could not be intimidated by threatening him with violence. He said he would visit Tripura again in two weeks’ time and constitute the party’s state committee with a president, general secretary and other office bearers.