A delegation of 16 MPs from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) arrived in New Delhi to get an appointment with union home minister Amit Shah on Monday in order to discuss the recent arrest of a party functionary in Tripura and the political situation in the state in general.
The TMC MPs are yet to hear from Shah’s office.
TMC leader Derek O’Brien tweeted on Monday, “Mr @AmitShah Home Minister, Sir. Brutal attacks on @AITCofficial. Even members of media clobbered in Tripura. Unprecedented attacks. Arrests on trumped-up charges. 16 Trinamool MPs have reached Delhi. Sir, please do give us an appointment this morning. Patiently waiting.”
Along with the tweet, he shared a purported video of a TMC worker in Tripura injured in an apparent attack.
TMC spokesperson Saket Gokhale said, “At the end of the day, we have very legitimate concerns and it is the duty of the home minister to listen to our grievances. If he is non-partisan, he will definitely help us out.”
Gokhale said the main issue the TMC delegates want to discuss with Shah is about the party’s youth wing president in Tripura, Sayani Ghosh, who has been charged with attempt to murder, among other things, for raising the party slogan “khela hobe (game on)”.
He questioned how a political slogan could amount to an attempt to murder.
Gokhale also made several other claims, saying that ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers allegedly attacked the TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev at a police station in Agartala.
“Lok Sabha MP Abhishek Banerjee’s flight was allegedly refused permission to land by Agartala’s airport authority. This is the level of mayhem in Agartala right now… Chief Minister Biplab Deb has taken the law into his own hands,” Gokhale said.
Tripura’s ruling BJP alleged that the TMC, CPI(M) and Congress are in a “shadow alliance” and their motto is to malign Tripura, hours after Trinamool leader Ghosh was arrested on the charge of criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity between two groups and attempt to murder after she was accused of her attempt to disrupt chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb’s civic poll rally in Agartala.
Amid the interrogation of Ghosh, some TMC activists were attacked allegedly by the ruling party cadres in the premises of East Agartala Women Police Station on Sunday. However, the BJP ruled out the allegation of their involvement in the incident.
“Hooligans and criminals are being brought from Bengal to disturb peace existing in Tripura. Now, a delegation of TMC is visiting union home minister Amit Shah… just to hide their faults. These are their pre-planned conspiracies. We will tackle these conspiracies in a disciplined way and cool head, “ law minister Ratan Lal Nath told reporters in Agartala.
“We believe that the TMC, the CPI(M) and the Congress are in shadow alliance and were involved in the incident happened. We are also looking if any of our activists were involved in it,” said Nath.
Ghosh was charged under sections of 153 ( promoting enmity between different groups),153A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion), 506 (criminal intimidation) ,307 (attempt to murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code.
She is expected to be taken to court on Monday.
The CPI(M) condemned Ghosh’s arrest and the alleged attacks on TMC activists.
Highlighting the current situation in Tripura, Trinamool’s Gokhale expressed concern over the unbiased conduct of civic elections in the state, saying the TMC has demanded “independent monitors for a just electoral process”.