Tripura: Cong, Left to boycott BJP’s swearing-in ceremony over ‘unprecedented’ post-poll violence

Agartala: Opposition Congress and the CPI-M led Left parties will boycott the swearing-in-ceremony of Chief Minister and other ministers of the second BJP government in Tripura on Wednesday due to the “unprecedented reign of terror unleashed by the BJP supporters and goons”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP President J.P. Nadda, several Central leaders and Chief Ministers would attend the ceremony at the Swami Vivekananda Maidan here.

A Left Front statement said that former Chief Minister and CPI-M politburo member Manik Sarkar and Secretaries of the CPI-M, CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc were invited by the state government to attend the swearing-in-ceremony, but the Left Front has decided to boycott the event due to unprecedented reign of terror “unleashed by the BJP supporters and goons” across the state since the announcement of Assembly election results on March 2.

On similar grounds, the Congress will also boycott Wednesday’s oath taking ceremony.

Tripura Congress President and former minister Birajit Sinha claimed that since the announcement of the Assembly election results on March 2, over a thousand incidents of violence have taken place in Tripura.

Blaming the BJP for the post-poll violence, the Congress leader said that at least three persons were killed while over 200 people were injured in the series of incidents of violence.

Many properties, including rubber gardens, shops, business establishments, vehicles and houses were destroyed and burnt down during the violence, which still continues, Sinha alleged.

The Tripura Congress chief also threatened to launch a statewide agitation if the violence does not stop immediately.

Tripura CPI-M Secretary Jitendra Chowdhury said: “In view of the series of attacks since March 2, thousands of people, including women and children, fled from their homes and took shelter in the jungle and outside the state.”

“The police remained a silent spectator and refused to register FIRs. Some people were detained for a while but were let off later,” Chowdhury told the media.

–IANS