Kolkata, Oct 8: A five-member TMC delegation left for Tripura on Wednesday to express solidarity with party activists in the northeastern state, where one of its offices was allegedly vandalised by BJP’s youth wing workers.
TMC West Bengal general secretary Kunal Ghosh, minister Birbaha Hansda, MP Saayoni Ghosh, MP Pratima Mondal, and party spokesperson Sudip Raha were among the delegation.
TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev would join the delegation at Agartala airport, a party leader said here.
The TMC on Tuesday alleged that the headquarters of its Tripura unit in Agartala was vandalised by members of the BJP’s youth wing.
The incident happened a day after an attack on BJP MP Khagen Murmu and MLA Sankar Ghosh in a flood-hit area in northern West Bengal.
Before leaving for Tripura, Kunal Ghosh said, “We are ready to face any consequence. But we have to go there, as in a democracy, such attacks on the opponent party in the presence of the police should be protested and resisted peacefully.”
Saayoni Ghosh claimed that the attack on saffron party leaders in north Bengal was “not initiated by the TMC workers but by common men who were incensed over BJP leaders’ public statements that central funds would be blocked for the rural poor under the 100-day work scheme”.
“We condemn any attack on people’s representatives. Our leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself visited Murmu ji at the hospital where he is undergoing treatment,” she said.
“But the way BJP goons in Tripura carried out an unprovoked attack on TMC party office and intimidated our workers in the presence of the Tripura Police spells great danger for democracy,” the TMC MP told reporters at the Kolkata airport before boarding the flight.
She also claimed that a TMC delegation had a harrowing experience during its Tripura visit earlier, when Biplab Deb was the chief minister of the northeastern state.
“Even TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee’s convoy was attacked at that time. We don’t know what fate awaits us. But we are not scared,” she said.
TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee posted on X handle, “Unable to defeat the Trinamool Congress at the ballot box in Bengal, BJP has unleashed its full machinery to provoke violence in states where they hold power. Their karyakartas attacked and ransacked our party office in Tripura, under the watchful eyes of the Tripura Police, laying bare their vindictive and lawless mindset.”
He also said, “This is not an isolated incident; in Tripura alone, our leaders and workers have faced repeated assaults. In 2021, my convoy in Tripura was vandalised by BJP-hired goons. They wax eloquent about upholding democracy, yet their actions flagrantly violate its very principles.”
Banerjee said the delegation would “assess the situation, stand in full solidarity with our colleagues and co-workers, and raise the matter officially with the state administration” in Tripura.
“Intimidation, violence, and vendettas will never silence us. Democracy, law and the people’s mandate will always prevail over BJP’s brute politics,” he said.
In a press meet in Kolkata, state minister and TMC senior leader Sashi Panja described the attack as “pre-planned,” which happened in the area of former chief minister Biplab Deb.
She alleged that BJP MLA from Bishalgarh in Tripura, Sushanta Dev, BJP’s Tripura youth wing vice president Vikki Prasad led the attack while police watched silently.
“Former Tripura CM and BJP’s in-charge of West Bengal affairs Biplab Deb is trying to score brownie points after being sidelined in his own party. That is why he is behind this deep-rooted conspiracy,” Panja told reporters at TMC headquarters in West Bengal. (PTI)
