7-member opposition delegation submit Memorandum to Tripura Guv on post-poll violence

Agartala (Tripura) [India], March 11 : The seven member delegation of opposition visited violence affected areas in Tripura on Saturday and submitted a Memorandum to the Governor of state Satyadeo Narain Arya related to post-poll violence in the state and said that complete lawlessness has been prevailing from March 2.
"Many party offices of the left panicked and the Congress were crushed down or set on fire. In a word, complete lawlessness has been prevailing in the state from last 2nd March onwards. The police in many places though are trying to take control of the situation, but they don't dare to arrest any perpetrator because they have an attachment with the ruling BJP. In some places, rather the police act as abettor to the attackers. That is why, though thousands of incidents of attacks have been reported so far, hardly there is a report of arrest of any culprits," read the Memorandum.
After interacting with the violence affected people they said that the situation was beyond imagination and far more shocking than it could be apprehended.
"What we witnessed and heard from the members of victim families were beyond imagination and far more shocking than we apprehended. The victims informed us that the entire state sparked an unprecedented backlash of terror and intimidation just at the moment the BJP got a majority in the counting of votes of the Assembly election on March 2, 2023. In the name of celebration of victory by the ruling, its unruly workers let loose unbridled attacks with inhuman ferocity on the people particularly targeting the opposition leaders, workers and supporters that resulted in the loss and destruction of a huge number of properties. Inhuman physical attacks were carried out on hundreds of opposition cadres and supporters whoever they came across," it read.
Referring to the attack on the joint team in State's Nehalchandranagar, they said that they were compelled to abandon visits to different places to avoid further provocation.
"For avoiding the recurrence of a similar unwanted situation that we witnessed at Nehal Chandra Nagar, Bishalgarh, we are compelled to abandon our today's programme of visits to different places to avoid further such provocation," it read.
According to Congress, BJP workers attacked the Congress and Left Front MPs in Nehalchandranagar of Bishalgarh. Several cars were vandalized.
"The worst and most shocking incident took place at Nehal Chandra Nagar, Bishalgarh where our team was almost gheraoed by the irate BJP followers when we were visiting some gutted shops at the marketplace. Immediately the Team reached the spot within minutes the miscreants started hurling stones and brick-bats towards us indiscriminately by chanting the slogan of "Joy Shriram" and "Bharat Mata Ki Joy". However, we narrowly saved our lives and escaped from the clutches of the irate BJP followers. Several vehicles of our group members were damaged," it read.
"Attack manifested on Tripura State Congress Chief MLA Birajit Sinha, MP Abdul Khaleque, AICC Incharge Ajoy Kumar and other Left leaders by BJP goons when they visited Bishalgarh to meet with families who were victims of post-poll violence in Tripura," said Tripura Congress chief Birajit Sinha.
Sinha said the security personnel escorted the Congress delegation acted like mute spectators.
BJP returned to power in the state by winning an absolute majority.
According to the Election Commission of India, BJP won 32 seats with a vote share of around 39 per cent. Tipra Motha Party came second by winning 13 seats.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) got 11 seats while Congress bagged three seats. The Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) managed to open its account by winning one seat.
The CPI(M) and the Congress, arch rivals in Kerala, came together in the Northeast this time in a bid to oust the BJP from power. The combined vote share of CPI(M) and Congress remained around 33 per cent. The BJP, which had never won a single seat in Tripura before 2018, stormed to power in the last election in alliance with IPFT and ousted the Left Front which had been in power in the border state for 35 years since 1978.
The BJP contested 55 seats and its ally, IPFT, on six seats. But both allies had fielded candidates in the Ampinagar constituency in the Gomati district. The Left contested 47 and Congress on 13 seats, respectively. Of the total 47 seats, the CPM contested 43 seats while the Forward Bloc, Communist Party of India (CPI) and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) contested one seat each.
The CPI(M)-led Left Front ruled the state for nearly four decades, with a gap between 1988 and 1993 when the Congress was in power but now both parties joined hands with the intention to oust BJP from power.