Unidentified “goons” assaulted a worker of the ruling BJP in Tripura’s Sepahijala district on Thursday, three days after alleged activists of the party’s ally TIPRA Motha targeted supporters of the saffron party who were listening to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann ki Baat radio broadcast.
BJP leader Bipin Debbarma said the party was holding a series of meetings in every mandal in connection with a convention of the indigenous people slated for August 9.
“One such meeting was organised at the Jampuijala market. But some local goons stopped one of our party karyakartas on the road and assaulted him. He is now under treatment at a hospital,” he told reporters.
The area falls under the purview of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), where the TIPRA Motha, a tribal party, is in power.
“I just want to say that no political activity by any other party is possible in ADC. No meeting or rally can be held. I don’t know which state they live in. Are they residents of this state? This is the question for the masses,” the BJP leader said in an apparent reference to the TIPRA Motha, which is part of the state government.
Speaking about the incident, however, a police officer in Jampuijala said that the BJP meeting went off peacefully.
“There was no attack at the political meeting… Only one youth was attacked, away from the meeting venue. We are investigating further,” the police officer said.
Story continues below this ad
The TTAADC governs nearly 70 per cent of Tripura’s territory and is home to 19 tribal communities.
With 13 MLAs, the TIPRA Motha is the second-largest party in the Assembly and has a minister.
