Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee whose convoy was allegedly attacked on his visit to Tripura on Monday said that the countdown for the end of BJP's government rule in Tripura has begun.
Addressing a press conference here, Banerjee said: "Tripura Chief Minister, on one hand, says 'atithi devo bhava' (guests are like gods) but on the other hand he sends BJP goons to attack my vehicle with sticks and rods. It proves that the party in power here is very scared of the TMC. The countdown of BJP government in Tripura has started from today."
Banerjee alleged that while he was en route to the Tripurasundari Temple, his convoy was attacked at various places by BJP supporters.
"At more than ten places BJP goons raised 'go back' slogans and stopped my convoy which took more than two hours to cover a distance of around 60 km which generally takes between 50 minutes to one hour. Police personnel were mere spectators," he stated.
Banerjee said that Chief Minister Biplab Deb who also holds the portfolio of Home Minister of the state, had participated in several political rallies in West Bengal during the recent Assembly polls there without facing any hurdle. "But in his home state when somebody from outside arrives, this kind of incident happens which is a reflection of the condition of democracy here," the TMC MP added.
Banerjee appealed to supporters of other parties including the Left and Congress in Tripura to join the TMC to raise a strong voice of the Opposition against the BJP.
Banerjee claimed several MLAs of Tripura including of the ruling BJP are not only in contact with the TMC but also took part in meetings with them but he did not want to name them at the moment.
"Before coming to power in the state the BJP had made many promises but kept none of them. Now people of the state are realizing that they have replaced thieves (Left Front) with dacoits (BJP). If we want, we can topple the Biplab Dev government immediately but unlike the BJP, the TMC does not believe in toppling an elected government," he said.
He said that within two weeks he will return to Tripura for an organizational meeting and challenged Dev to stop him from visiting the state.
Asserting that TMC will form the government in Tripura in the 2023 elections, Banerjee said, "If required along with other leaders from West Bengal, I will visit Tripura every week. The face of the TMC government in the state after the 2023 election will be a Tripura native unlike the present government led by Biplap Deb. It will not be a remote control government operated from Delhi or Gujarat."
Banerjee, who is the TMC MP from Diamond Harbour of West Bengal, was on a one day visit to the state following the home arrest of 23 IPAC team members who had arrived in Tripura on a TMC assignment for a ground survey.
The TMC has been looking for setting up its base with other opposition parties in the state before the polls.
Last week, Tripura Police detained a team of 23 members of poll strategist Prashant Kishor's I-PAC at a hotel in Agartala.
( With inputs from ANI )
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