Following a bitter election battle in West Bengal between the Bhartiya Janta Party and the Trinamool Congress, which ended in the TMC’s favour, another war is building in the north-eastern state of Tripura.
It began following the arrest of 22 persons from election strategist Prashant Kishores’ iPAC team last month, as well as the detention and attack on TMC leaders, which led in the party’s general secretary Abhishek Banerjee visiting the state twice in the recent fortnight.
Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of Bengal and the head of the TMC, has accused Home Minister Amit Shah of coordinating the attack on TMC leaders. “These attacks happened in front of the Tripura police, and they remained passive spectators,” the chief minister told the reporters on Monday when she visited her injured party Khadar at the SSKM Hospital. Tripura’s chief minister lacks the fortitude to authorise such attacks, and they have not taken place without the agreement of the state’s home minister.”
While the TMC plans to go head-to-head with its popular slogan, “Khela Hobe,” NEDA convenor Himanta Biswa Sarma of the BJP has issued a robust rebuttal.
“In Tripura, Khela Hobe will not function. It may have helped the TMC win in Bengal, but only a small portion of Bengalis would agree with the slogan in Tripura or anywhere else,” Sarma said News18.
Mamata Banerjee is enjoying a “period of glitter” in Bengal, according to the Assam chief minister. ”Mamata Banerjee is basking in the limelight following her victory in Bengal, but this will pass quickly. The BJP has established itself as a powerful political force in Bengal and will continue to do so.”
“People will recall that Mamata Banerjee recently lost her own election in Bengal, and she will be unable to explain how a politician who has lost his or her own election can assure people of their victory in the days ahead,” he said.
In the north-eastern state, both parties will strive to win Bengali voters. Outsiders make up about 69 percent of Tripura’s population, with Bengalis accounting for the majority. The TMC recently established a state unit and is now seeking to form coalitions with like-minded politicians, such as Pradeep Dev Burman and other smaller regional parties with whom Abhishek Banerjee has just met.
“A group active in slowing the rate of development of Tripura is plotting in the state to suit political interests,” Biplab Deb posted on Twitter in a veiled assault on the TMC.
“Some parties attempting to be active in Tripura are falling far behind in terms of development,” he continued. It is not for political benefit, but rather for the state’s total prosperity. Our primary goal is to establish a precedent for considerable progress in a variety of fields.”
Experts say the games have officially begun now that the BJP and TMC’s feud has spread beyond Bengal’s boundaries.
