Gaurav Gogoi.
Credit: PTI Photo
Agartala: Senior Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi on Friday said his party would not let Tripura, which has been rocked by violence over panchayat elections, turn into another Manipur.
Gogoi, the deputy leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, led a delegation of his party that visited the violence-affected areas of the state.
"The Congress firmly stands with its leaders, workers and the people of Tripura during these difficult times. The Congress will not bow down to terror tactics of the BJP," he said, addressing a press conference at the party's state headquarters in Agartala.
"We will inform the party high command what we saw in Tripura during our two-day visit. PM Narendra Modi is saying that India is the mother of democracy but what we saw here is nothing short of murder of democracy," he added.
Gogoi said the Congress suspected there was a ploy to turn Tripura into a "second Manipur", but it won't let that happen.
"We will raise the issue of violence in Tripura, injustice and threat to democracy in the upcoming Budget session of Parliament," he said.
Senior Congress MP Tariq Anwar alleged law and order had collapsed in Tripura.
"Constitutional provisions are being ignored with candidates failing to file nominations for the panchayat polls. We met Governor N Indrasena Reddy and shared our concerns over the violence in the state. We expect the governor will do the needful," he said.
Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman said at least 3,383 party candidates could not file their nominations for the panchayat polls because of the violence.
"We gave prior information to the police to provide security to our candidates so that they could submit their nomination papers but the police did not help," he alleged.
Roy Barman himself was attacked near Tepania RD Block in Gomati district on Thursday when he was escorting Congress candidates to file nomination papers. At least three party leaders were injured in the attack.
"There are three judges in the Tripura High Court who are sons of the soil. If Calcutta High Court could issue a suo motu notice over a similar kind of violence, why our high court can't do the same," he asked.
Panchayat elections will be held in Tripura on August 8.