A Communist Party of India (Marxist) delegation on Sunday met the director general of police in Tripura to complain of violence against party workers after the results of the Assembly elections were announced on Saturday, The Hindu reported.
Sporadic incidents of violence were reported from a number of areas after the results of the Tripura elections were declared. These include areas such as Bishalgarh, Khowai, Mohanpur, Sabroom, Khomlung, Melagarh, Jirania, Belonia, and Ramnagar and South Ramnagar in Agartala.
“Our cadres are being attacked and houses and offices ransacked in many parts of Tripura,” MP Sankar Prasad Datta told India Today. “It is a matter of grave concern.”
CPI(M) MP Jitendra Chaudhary told The Indian Express that there had been 200 cases of violence against the party since Saturday night. “Many of our polling agents have had to leave home and take shelter with friends and family in other districts,” a CPI(M) worker told the newspaper.
Tripura Director General of Police Akhil Kumar Shukla assured the CPI(M) leaders of action against the perpetrators and promised that law and order will be restored. Several top Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in the state appealed for calm, according to The Hindu.
The BJP was declared victorious in 35 of the 59 seats contested in the Assembly elections. Its ally, the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura, won eight constituencies, taking the saffron front’s tally to 43 seats in the House. The CPI(M) suffered a setback, losing after 20 years – it was reduced to 16 seats from 50 in the 2013 elections. The Left is now in power only in Kerala.
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