The national General Secretary of Trinamool Congress, Abhishek Banerjee, said here on Monday that his party has come to Tripura to defeat the BJP, and it is not like the CPI(M) or Congress to cow down to the attacks of the saffron party and run away from the battle.
Banerjee told the media that the CPI(M) and the Congress, both of which governed Tripura for many years, don't have the ability or mindset to defeat the BJP, which is intimidating and framing false cases against opposition leaders, workers and people who are opposing the saffron party.
"We (Trinamool) came to Tripura just three months ago, and the BJP is rattled," said Banerjee, who came to Agartala on Monday, a day after Tripura police arrested West Bengal Trinamool Youth Congress President Saayoni Ghosh, invoking five provisions of the IPC, including murder and provocation with intent to cause riot.
He said: "We have lodged over 100 FIRs. Eleven of our women civic poll candidates and all the Trinamool leaders were attacked, but no one was interrogated, forget arresting the perpetrators. But Saayoni was arrested for raising a slogan - 'Khela Hobe'.
"None of the BJP leaders in West Bengal, including Dilip Ghosh and state unit chief Sukanta Majumdar, were attacked in Bengal. But in Tripura, Trinamool convener (officiating party chief) Subal Bhowmik and his house were attacked by the BJP on Sunday."
Ahead of Thursday's civic polls in Tripura, the Trinamool had planned to hold a road show led by Banerjee on Monday, but the party held a small gathering in the city as the police did not allow its much-publicised road show.
Raising question as to why Saayoni was arrested, Banerjee said that she was booked on charges of murder and provocation, but whom did she want to kill, whom did she provoke?
"An absolutely false case was lodged against her," he said.
Claiming that total lawlessness and 'jungle raj' is prevailing in BJP-ruled Tripura, Banerjee said that on Sunday, a police station in the capital city was also attacked by the BJP supporters, forcing the police officers to take shelter under the table and even journalists were not spared from the BJP attacks.
He urged the voters to carry the BJP symbol, 'lotus', and Narendra Modi's photograph to save themselves from BJP attacks, but cast their votes to the Trinamool candidates in Thursday's polling to the Agartala Municipal Corporation and 19 other municipal bodies across Tripura.
Banerjee also thanked the CPI(M) for condemning the arrest of Saayoni Ghosh, but urged the Left party to fight against the BJP from the ground.
Criticising the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Trinamool leader said that his party has lodged a complaint with the NHRC, but the rights body has done nothing so far.
During the media briefing, Banerjee was accompanied by West Bengal minister Bratya Basu, the party's Rajya Sabha member Sushmita Dev, spokesman Kunal Ghosh, Tripura unit chief Subal Bhowmik and BJP MLA Ashish Das, who recently joined the Trinamool.
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