News Analysis India

Tag: Tripura

  • TMC alleges 2 youth leaders injured in attack by BJP in Tripura, saffron party denies charge

    By PTI

    AGARTALA: The Trinamool Congress on Saturday alleged that two of its youth leaders from West Bengal were injured when their vehicle was allegedly attacked by BJP activists in Tripura’s Dhalai district.

    Following the incident, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who is West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew and the de facto number 2 in the party, said that he will visit Tripura on Sunday.

    Denying the allegation, the BJP claimed that the TMC is a non-factor in Tripura, and West Bengal’s ruling party is spreading the “virus of political violence” in the northeastern state, where “outsiders” are fomenting trouble.

    Police said that two persons were attacked by a group of unidentified miscreants at Ambassa and their vehicle was partly damaged.

    TMC spokesperson Debangshu Bhattacharya alleged that party leaders Sudip Raha and Jaya Dutta were injured in an attack by BJP workers in Ambassa while they were on their way to Dharmanagar in North Tripura district.

    “The miscreants attacked the car, in which I was also seated, with lathi (baton) and lethal weapons, and pelted the vehicle with stones.

    Their act shows that they have sensed defeat in next year’s assembly elections in the state,” Bhattacharya told reporters.

    Shortly after the incident, BJP and TMC supporters faced off and staged road blockades 500 m apart on National Highway 8, prompting the police to fire tear gas shells to disperse the mob and bring the situation under control.

    The road blockades forced Chief Minister Biplab Deb to take a detour while returning to Agartala after attending some inauguration programmes in Dharmanagar.

    TMC workers led by Subal Bhowmik, a former vice-president of Tripura BJP who recently switched sides, were protesting the alleged ransacking of a TMC party office by saffron party workers in Batarasi area of Dharmanagar on Friday night.

    Police detained Bhowmik and some other TMC workers, and cleared the road.

    “Our party office was damaged by BJP-backed goons. When we staged the road blockade, police treated us like miscreants,” Bhowmik told reporters.

    Condemning the alleged attack on the youth leaders in Ambassa, TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said that the incident shows that there is “goonda raj” (lawlessness) in Tripura.

    “The GOONS of @BJP4Tripura have shown their TRUE COLOURS! This barbaric attack on Trinamool workers reveals the ‘GOONDA RAJ’ in #Tripura under @BjpBiplab’s Govt. ! Your threats and attacks only prove your inhumanity. DO WHAT YOU CAN! Trinamool will not budge an INCH!,” the Diamond Harbour MP, displaying photographs of the injured persons and the vehicle, tweeted.

    “Tomorrow, I am coming to #Tripura to stand by every Trinamool worker who were brutally attacked by @BJP4Tripura goons today. It is my promise that I shall continue fighting till the very last drop of my blood. STOP ME IF YOU CAN @BjpBiplab!,” he said in another Twitter post.

    This will be Banerjee’s second visit to the northeastern state in seven days.

    His convoy was also attacked allegedly by BJP workers during his previous visit on August 2.

    West Bengal TMC general secretary Kunal Ghosh said that the attack on “young boys and girls” shows that the BJP is scared.

    Ghosh said that he will visit Tripura on Sunday.

    Attacking the Tripura chief minister, West Bengal minister Bratya Basu tweeted: “The brutality with which @BjpBiplab has greeted Trinamool workers in the state, shows how frightened he is of any voice that dares to oppose his TYRANNY! But guess what, Mr.

    Deb? Our fight for the people of #Tripura will not stop.

    We will continue standing up for them!” Denying the BJP’s role in the alleged attack on TMC workers, the party’s Tripura unit spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharya said, “Why should our party workers attack TMC activists? The party is no threat to us.

    The TMC does not have the strength to even win a seat in panchayat elections.”

    “We are not worried about the TMC in Tripura. Our CM is a tolerant person, which is why he took a detour to avoid any untoward incident,” Bhattacharya told PTI.

    West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh said, “The TMC is instigating violence in Tripura. They are staging a drama.

    No one gives much importance to the TMC in the northeastern state.”

    West Bengal BJP vice-president Jayprakash Majumdar alleged that the TMC is “spreading the virus” of political violence in peaceful Tripura, where “outsiders” are fomenting trouble.

    Condemning the alleged attack on the TMC youth leaders, CPI(M) West Bengal state committee leader Sujan Chakraborty said, “There is jungle raaj in Tripura, where the BJP is attacking its political rivals.

    After attacking CPI(M) and other Left Front activists in Tripura, the BJP has now trained its guns on the TMC. We condemn any attack.”

    He, however, also took a dig at the TMC, saying, “CPI(M) activists have come under attack in both Tripura and West Bengal in the last couple of years by the BJP and the TMC respectively.

    When our workers were attacked in the northeastern state, TMC had never protested.”

  • TMC MLA threatens to ‘look after BJP members’ following ‘attack’ on Abhishek’s convoy in Tripura

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: A TMC MLA on Tuesday threatened to “look after” BJP leaders and workers in Dinhata area of West Bengal’s Coochbehar district “in a proper manner”, a day after the convoy of party national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee allegedly came under attack in BJP-ruled Tripura.

    The BJP demanded penal action against Dinhata MLA Udayan Guha for issuing a threat in public against activists of an opposition party.

    “After the Tripura incident, BJP workers and leaders in Dinhata will have to be looked after in a proper manner,” Guha’s Facebook post in Bengali read.

    The post triggered a storm on social media, with many flaying the legislator for his statement while others extending support to him.

    ALSO READ |  TMC will end BJP misrule in Tripura, form government in 2023: Abhishek Banerjee

    However, Guha later clarified, “In my Facebook post, I didn’t speak about attacking anyone.”

    Guha’s hand was fractured in post-poll violence in Dinhata in May.

    Criticising the TMC MLA, who is the son of late Left Front leader Kamal Guha, BJP’s Natabari legislator Mihir Goswami said, “We demand that a case be lodged against Udayan Guha and action be taken against him.

    It seems that the stinging NHRC observations against him regarding post-poll violence and its perpetrators are justified.”

    Reacting to Goswami’s demand, senior TMC leader and state Agriculture Minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay claimed that Guha was literally speaking about “taking care of BJP workers, to live peacefully with them and ensure not a single saffron party member in Dinhata is harmed in retaliatory action.”

    “Only a party like BJP can twist such a comment which by no stretch of imagination means taking the law into one’s hands or teaching the BJP a lesson,” the veteran TMC leader told PTI.

    He said that the BJP should explain why no action was taken against police officers who were on duty during the “brazen and audacious” attack on Abhishek Banerjee in Tripura.

    “Action was taken against three police officers after the alleged attack on BJP national president J P Nadda in West Bengal in December last year,” he added.

  • TMC slams BJP for ‘attack’ on Abhishek Banerjee’s car in Tripura

    By Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday alleged the car of its national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was attacked by BJP workers in Tripura.

    The party claimed three of his security personnel, who came from Kolkata, were injured.

    Today, I visited the Tripureshwari temple. I pray to Maa Tripureshwari for the well-being of everyone in our country.Despite using all his might, @BjpBiplab SHALL NOT be able to stop me from reaching out to the people of #Tripura who deserve to see the light of Democracy! pic.twitter.com/do4a3oyiCJ
    — Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) August 2, 2021

    The incident occurred when Banerjee was returning to Agartala after offering puja at the famous Tripureswari temple in the state’s Udaipur.

    ALSO READ | TMC will end BJP misrule in Tripura, form government in 2023: Abhishek Banerjee

    Banerjee told reporters his car was attacked with sticks. He alleged road blockades were organised to prevent his visit to the temple.

    He shared a video in a tweet and wrote: “Democracy in Tripura under @BJP4India rule! Well done @BjpBiplab for taking the state to new heights.”

    Democracy in Tripura under @BJP4India rule!Well done @BjpBiplab for taking the state to new heights. pic.twitter.com/3LoOE28CpW
    — Abhishek Banerjee (@abhishekaitc) August 2, 2021

    The BJP’s state unit rubbished the TMC’s charge. “No BJP workers obstructed or attacked Banerjee,” the party said.

  • Over 80 per cent of class 10 Tripura board exam candidates declared passed

    By PTI
    AGARTALA: Altogether 80.62 per cent of regular candidates have passed the Madhyamik (class 10) examinations conducted by the Tripura Board of Secondary Education (TBSE) this year, its president said on Saturday.

    The pass percentage is higher by 11.13 per cent compared to that in the previous year. The state government cancelled the Madhyamik Examinations in May in view of the Covid-19 pandemic and later an expert committee comprising statisticians, professors and school teachers was formed to devise a method of giving marks to the examinees.

    “The Madhyamik examination pass rate this year is 80.62 per cent. Pass rates among ST and SC candidates were 75.62 per cent and 80.81 per cent respectively,” TBSE President Dr Bhabatosh Saha said while announcing the results, There were 39,987 candidates in the regular category.

    Saha said that 76.64 per cent of students who registered for the exams from Tripura tribal council areas this year have passed. He said that 426 schools have achieved 100 per cent pass rate.

    All the 1066 schools in eight districts of the state were asked to provide marks based on the formula devised by the expert committee.

    The evaluation method was based on marks obtained by a candidate in various tests conducted by the school.

    Saha said that students dissatisfied with the result can apply for separate examinations and their tests would be taken only after the pandemic is over.

  • I-PAC team members granted bail in Tripura; Trinamool Congress MPs reach state

    By PTI
    AGARTALA: The 23 members of poll strategist Prashant Kishor’s I-PAC team, the alleged detention of which in the BJP-ruled Tripura led the Trinamool Congress to attack the saffron party, surrendered before a local court on Thursday, which granted them bail.

    The Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) team has been camping in Agartala to assess the political situation and potential support base for the TMC. The police allegedly detained them in a hotel citing COVID norms on Sunday night.

    Senior TMC leader and MP Derek O’Brien, who arrived in the state, alleged that the central leadership of the BJP is behind the incident.

    Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate S B Das granted bail to the I-PAC team members, who were summoned to appear before the police on August one following registration of an FIR against them on Tuesday.

    The police earlier said that the I-PAC team members will have to remain inside the hotel until their test report for COVID-19 is available. The reports came negative on Tuesday night. Their counsel Pijush Kanti Biswas said that a case against the state government will be filed for harassing them.

    “The I-PAC team members arrived in the state with Covid negative reports. But they were put under detention before the FIR was registered which amounts to harassment,” Biswas said.

    Additional Public Prosecutor Bidyut Sutradhar said a complaint was filed by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Sadar, against the team, which was registered at East Agartala police station under Section 188 of IPC (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and under the National Disaster Management Act.

    “The investigating officer served them notice to meet him on August one. There was no apprehension of arrest. But still, they surrendered before the court, prayed for bail and the court granted them bail,” Sutradhar told reporters.

    SDPO (Sadar) Ramesh Yadav, said that as soon as the COVID test results of the 23 people came negative, they were freed on Tuesday night itself. “They were not detained but asked to stay in the hotel till the test reports are available. After receiving the test reports, some of them stepped out of the hotel on Wednesday,” the police officer said.

    Meanwhile, Derek O’Brien, senior Rajya Sabha MP of the TMC, said that the I-PAC team members hired by the party came here on a professional assignment, and alleged that they were detained by the Tripura Police on directions of the central leadership of the BJP.

    “What message did (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah and (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi give from Delhi? They directed from Delhi to arrest the I-PAC team members. They are trying to impose the Gujarat model across India,” O’Brien said.

    He claimed that Modi and Shah are not allowing opposition members to speak in Parliament and at the same time they are trying to silence the opposition voice here. He said that the TMC leadership has asked some party MPs to come to Agartala from Delhi even when the Parliament session is on.

    TMC MP Kakali Ghosh Dastidar has arrived here on Thursday while party general secretary and Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee is scheduled to reach Tripura on Friday.

  • 23 members of Prashant Kishor’s I-PAC team detained in Agartala

    By ANI
    AGARTALA: Tripura Police detained a team of 23 members of election analyst Prashant Kishor’s I-PAC at Hotel Woodland Park in Agartala on Monday, Tripura, sources said.

    “They are being interrogated and have been warned by Police not to leave the hotel except for going to the airport to leave the state,” Sources told ANI.

    The police have not given any official reason for the detention. However, according to Manik Das, Superintendent of Police (SP) West Tripura, the team was in the state “for some research-related work”.

    “Results of their(I-PAC members) RTPCR test will come tomorrow. They said they were here for some research-related work that is being investigated. After getting COVID test results and outcome of the probe, a decision will be taken on their release,” said the SP.

    Notably, Assembly polls in Tripura are scheduled to be held in 2023. 

  • Tripura government extends COVID curfew till July 17

    By PTI
    AGARTALA: After detection of ‘Delta Plus’ variant of coronavirus in Tripura, the state government has extended the 15-hour daily curfew in several urban areas for another week till July 17, an official said on Saturday.

    The government also increased the time for such a restriction by two hours on Saturdays and Sundays, Revenue Secretary Tanushree Debbarma said.

    The curfew will be in place from 2 pm to 5 am on weekdays and from noon to 5 am on Saturdays and Sundays in the jurisdiction of Agartala Municipal Corporation and 12 other urban local bodies, she said.

    Debbarma stated that the administration decided to extend the curfew after the COVID situation in the state was reviewed.

    “The curfew will be enforced strictly in several areas from noon to 5 am on Saturdays and Sundays and from 2 pm to 5 am on weekdays,” the official said.

    The COVID curfew will remain in place in Agartala, Ranirbazar, Jirania Nagar, Udaipur, Kailashahar, Dharmanagar, Khowai, Belonia, Kumarghat, Teliamura, Sonamura Nagar, Amarpur Nagar and Sabroom Nagar till July 17, she said.

    The COVID curfew in these urban areas was first imposed on May 16 and then extended several times.

    Many cases of ‘Delta Plus’ and ‘Delta’ variants of COVID-19 have been detected in the northeastern state, a health department official said.

    “Altogether, 151 samples were sent for genome sequencing in a laboratory at Kolkata. The report was shocking as more than 90 per cent of them were found positive for the ‘Delta Plus’ variant. New coronavirus strains were detected not only in West Tripura but also in other districts,” Dr Tapan Majumder, head of the microbiology department of Agartala Government Medical College, said.

    State Surveillance Officer for COVID-19 Dr Deep Kumar Debbarma said the ‘Delta Plus’ strain was detected in 138 samples, ‘Delta’ in 10 and UK variant in three.

    “The ‘Delta Plus’ strain can spread rapidly. The situation may turn complicated if the COVID appropriate behaviour is not enforced strictly,” Majumder said.

  • Pratima Bhowmick, first politician from Tripura to join Union Cabinet

    By PTI
    AGARTALA: Fifty-two-year-old Pratima Bhowmik, popularly known as ‘Pratima di’ Wednesday scripted history, becoming the only politician from Tripura to be sworn-in as a central minister.

    Earlier, Santosh Mohan Deb and Triguna Sen were elected as member of Parliament from Tripura and inducted in the central cabinet.

    However, they were not from Tripura.

    While Deb hailed from Silchar in Assam, Sen was from West Bengal.

    On Bhowmick’s achievement, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb tweeted: “A moment of immense pride for #Tripura that @PratimaBhoumik ji, foremost representative of #NariShakti of the state, has joined PM Shri @narendramodi led Union Council of Ministers.”

    Bhowmick is a first time MP, elected from West Tripura constituency in the last general elections.

    Prior to this, she was the general secretary of the Tripura unit of BJP, but relinquished the post after being elected as Member of Parliament and at present holds the post of vice-president of the state unit.

    A graduate in Science from Tripura Women’s College here, Bhowmik has always maintained a low profile despite being an active politician for long.

  • Tripura man makes utensils out of bamboo waste

    By PTI
    AGARTALA: Bamboo technologist Samir Jamatia, who had earlier received appreciation for producing a tea-like brew from the tropical grass, has now made household utensils out of its remnants that get junked at incense stick factories.

    Jamatia, a resident of Gomati district in Tripura, observed that almost 90 per cent of the bamboo is wasted while manufacturing incense sticks, and the remnants, if collected, can be utilised to make environment-friendly utensils.

    The entrepreneur, in collaboration with Central Institute of Petrochemicals Engineering and Technology (CIPET), Agartala, gave his idea a push, following which an incense stick manufacturing company took up the project of making plates and bowls out of bamboo waste.

    “Trials have been successful and a process is underway for commercial production of the utensils. With the application of the new technology, the incense stick manufacturing companies can eye huge profits,” he said, adding that the idea has already won praise from experts.

    Bamboo is grown in abundance in Tripura.

  • Tripura mob lynching: Police clueless on identity of assailants

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Thirty-six hours have elapsed since a mob in BJP-ruled Tripura lynched three suspected cattle lifters but the police are still clueless on the identity of the assailants.

    The incident had occurred in Khowai district in the early hours of Sunday. The police said people were not coming forward to give a statement on the incident. “We don’t know who actually did it. Nobody is coming forward to give a statement,” district Superintendent of Police, Kiran Kumar told The New Indian Express.

    He said 15 to 20 people were involved in the incident. An investigation revealed the victims had stolen the cattle, the SP added. The police had seized a mini-truck and five cattle from near the site of the incident.

    Royal scion and former Tripura Congress president Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma tweeted: “Anyone who takes law in the hands should be punished! We live in a lawful society and the public murder of the 3 people irrespective of the alleged crime is unacceptable. If they were guilty it was the responsibility of the police to arrest them not the mob to lynch them #Tripura.”

    The victims, Billal Mia (30), Joyed Hussain (28), and Saiful Islam (18) were ferrying the cattle in the mini-truck when it met with an accident. Soon, a group of villagers took their custody and started beating them up mercilessly. One of them died on the spot while the two others, who were grievously injured, succumbed to their injuries at a hospital.