The Trinamool Congress on Sunday alleged that two of its MPs – Dola Sen and Aparupa Poddar – were attacked twice by Bharatiya Janata Party supporters in the South Tripura district, The Indian Express reported.
The TMC claimed that BJP workers first attacked them at Thaibung village near the Sabroom town when they went there to hoist the national flag at their party office as part of Independence Day celebrations. TMC leader Abir Ranjan Biswas said Sen and Poddar sustained injuries, as did some other party workers.
Sen told ANI that she subsequently called the director general of Police, who assured her “that everything will be fine.”
“Despite this, we were attacked at Belonia [a town in South Tripura] in front of the police station by BJP supporters with party flags,” she alleged.
The TMC said that through the incident, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has “confirmed his knack for hooliganism”.
TMC leaders in Tripura held protests against the alleged attacks.
“The horrid attack on [TMC] leaders and the deafening silence of our Home Minister has shocked the entire nation,” the party said in a tweet.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has denied the allegations, and alleged that the TMC has a “secret pact” with the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which had ruled Tripura for nearly 25 years till 2018.
“We think the attack was plotted by them,” The Indian Express quoted BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharya as saying. “Let police investigate the matter and unearth the truth.”
Last week, the TMC had claimed that two of its youth leaders from West Bengal sustained injuries after being attacked by BJP workers in Tripura’s Dhalai district, according to PTI.
The BJP, however, had denied the allegations and said that the party posed no threat to them in the state.
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