Don't try appeasement politics in Tripura: BJP to Trinamool Congress

The BJP in Tripura hit out at the Trinamool Congress on Sunday stating that the people of Tripura were not fans of the appeasement politics practised by the Trinamool party and that they had rejected the Mamata-Banerjee led Trinamool once before and would so again at the 2023 Tripura assembly elections. The move comes ahead of a TMC rally to be held at Agartala, spearheaded by Mamata's nephew Abhishek Banerjee.

"The TMC had tried earlier also to make some difference here. In 2018 and other elections the party contested but failed to win. People of Tripura know about Mamata Banerjee's appeasement politics. People of Tripura, by and large, are not going to accept the TMC this time as well," Bharatiya Janata Party state president Vinod Sonkar said to mediapersons.

He declined to say more about the TMC rally headed by Abhishek Banerjee in Agartala but said that if the 'dharna' caused difficulty for the people of the region then law enforcement was required to take adequate measures against it. The TMC recently received permission from the High Court to go ahead with the procession in Agartala shortly after it accused Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb of attempting to prevent the party from gaining a foothold in the state.

The Tripura government made a negative report of RT-PCR test, conducted 48 hours before the journey, mandatory for anyone entering the state from nine particular states, including West Bengal. In an order on Friday evening, the negative RT-PCR report was made mandatory irrespective of someone's vaccination status. The TMC claims this is another method of delaying protestors from assembling in Agartala.

Stating that the BJP in Tripura was "strong" and "unified", Sonkar dismissed allegations of infighting and said BJP workers were free to raise complaints if they felt unhappy or unheard.