Trinamool MP Sushmita Dev's car attacked in Tripura, party accuses BJP

The Trinamool Congress has lodged a complaint with police who are now probing the incident.

(Image courtesy: Twitter)

Agartala: Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha member Sushmita Dev and 10 other party members were attacked allegedly by the members of ruling BJP on Friday at Amtali in western Tripura. According to West Tripura district police chief Manik Lal Das, the Trinamool has lodged a complaint with police who are now probing the incident.

"One of the TMC cars was damaged. No physical injury to Dev or her party members has been reported," Das told IANS.

The BJP, however, rejected the accusations.

"The incident is a part of their internal feud. The Trinamool members who could not make it to the recently constituted Tripura steering committee, are behind it," BJP spokesman Nabendu Bhattacharjee told the media.

In a complaint at the Amtali police station, the Trinamool leaders alleged that their car was damaged when the BJP workers attacked them during an outreach programme. While Dev was injured, mobile and other valuables of the accompanying TMC workers were looted by the attackers, a party statement said.

Condemning the incident, Trinamool`s General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee tweeted: "Under @Bjp Biplab`s #Duare GundaRaj, attack on political opponents is setting new records! Physically manhandling a sitting female Rajya Sabha MP, @SushmitaDevAITC is beyond shameful & political terrorism by @BJP4Tripura goons !The time is near. People of Tripura will answer !"

On Thursday, the Trinamool launched a 12-day statewide programme -- `Tripurar Jonno Trinamool (Trinamool for Tripura)` -- to highlight the vision, schemes and messages of party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Announcing the party`s first mega event in Tripura, Dev and the state`s steering committee convener Subal Bhowmik told the media on Thursday that through the Tripurar Jonno Trinamool` programme, party leaders would reach out to the people at the grassroots level across the state.

She said that covering eight districts, 58 blocks and 20 urban local bodies of Tripura, the party leaders would interact with the people and listen to their issues arising out of the `miss-governance` of the BJP.

Dev, whose father and former Union minister late Santosh Mohan Dev was instrumental in installing a Congress-led government in Tripura in 1988, quit the Congress and joined the Trinamool on August 16 and has been touring the entire state to strengthen the party organisation.

Eyeing the Assembly polls in Tripura scheduled in 2023, senior Trinamool leaders, including ministers and MPs, are frequently visiting the state since July to build the organisation and garner support in BJP-ruled Tripura.

A series of violent incidents involving Trinamool leaders from West Bengal and Tripura occurred in the state after which many leaders were also arrested.