Indian Constitution has 'stopped working' in BJP-ruled Tripura: CPI(M)

The CPI(M) on Tuesday said the Indian Constitution has "stopped working" in Tripura, where it claimed the ruling BJP was unleashing violence against party cadre who are galvanising people's anger against the state government that is facing "growing discontent".

Demanding the arrest of BJP workers who indulged in violence against CPI(M) workers and damaged party's properties, the party also attacked the BJP government at the Centre, saying there could be "political reasons" for not even acknowledging general secretary Sitaram Yechury's letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking action and not acting on a request to Rashtrapati Bhavan seeking an appointment with President Ram Nath Kovind.

The CPI(M) said 42 of its party offices, including the state committee office in Agartala, and 67 shops and houses of party workers were attacked. One cadre was killed and at least 24 others were injured in "violence unleashed by the BJP" on September 7 and 8. One office each of RSP and CPI(ML) were also targeted, it said.

Read more: Violent clashes erupt between BJP and CPI(M) activists in Tripura

Addressing a press conference, Yechury and former Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar alleged that police stood like bystanders when BJP workers went on a rampage and targeted CPI(M) buildings and cadres. They also alleged that the CRPF guards at the state committee office were "mysteriously withdrawn" just an hour before the attack.

"The Indian Constitution is not working in Tripura. There is no protection of human rights. It appears that Tripura is out of India. This type of attack is not meted out to the Opposition anywhere else in India," Sarkar, also a senior Polit Bureau member said.

Yechury said the attacks on party cadres were "largescale, deliberate, unprovoked and pre-planned" and it showed the "naked violation of democratic values promised by the Constitution".

He said there is "growing discontent" against the BJP government in Tripura and that is why it is not allowing the process of galvanisation of anti-BJP sentiments. "That is why there is this sort of violence unleashed on the Opposition.

Yechury said they had requested an audience with the President to brief him about the violence in Tripura and seek his intervention to arrest the culprits.

"I had also written to the Prime Minister. There is not even an acknowledgement. There is no response from the Rashtrapati Bhavan too. Given that the Prime Minister has not even acknowledged the letter, there may be political reasons," he said when asked about the appointment with the President.

From 2018 when the BJP assumed power to the present, Yechury said, 21 supporters and members of the CPI(M) including a woman have been killed.

"In many of the attacks on September 7 and 8 by BJP people shouting Jai Sri Ram and armed with iron rods and petrol bombs, police were either bystander or refused to respond to calls regarding the attacks on homes and party offices. Some BJP leaders and ministers have also made provocative statements encouraging the attacks," he said.

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