JOIN USTwo statues of Communist icon Vladimir Lenin were brought down in South Tripura, the police said on Tuesday. The CPM and its arch-rival in Bengal, the Trinamool Congress, blamed the BJP for the incidents.
The statues were pulled down just days after the Left was defeated in the Assembly polls by the BJP and its ally IPFT, which together won a two-third majority in the House in a state where the CPM was in power for 25 years.
A five-foot fibre glass statue of Lenin was toppled at Belonia on Monday, while a smaller figure was razed at Sabroom two days ago, district superintendent of police Monchak Ipper said.
Tripura chief minister-designate Biplab Deb has urged the people of the state to maintain peace, and said anybody indulging in violence would be punished.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Governor Tathagatha Roy and the director general of police, asking them to ensure peace till a new government was installed, an official said in New Delhi.
The demolition at Belonia evoked a sharp reaction from Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who blamed the BJP and the RSS for the incidents.
Tripura CPM district secretary Tapas Datta alleged that the statue, unveiled by the party's Politburo member and former general secretary Prakash Karat a few months ago, was razed by BJP workers. "After pulling down the statue, slogans of Bharat Mata Ki Jai were raised," Datta said.
Ipper said the driver of the JCB excavator machine used to bring down the Lenin figure at Belonia was arrested and a notice sent to its owner.
The statue would be handed over to the authorities of the Belonia Municipal Corporation, he said.
Governor's tweet
The incidents took a controversial turn with a tweet posted by Governor Tathagata Roy. "What one democratically elected government can do another democratically elected government can undo. And vice versa," he tweeted.
CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, who criticised the incidents, described the tweet as unfortunate. "The tweet by the governor is unfortunate... This shows how constitutional posts are being undermined," he said.