TMC team heads to Tripura after alleged attack on party office

A five-member Trinamool Congress (TMC) delegation left for Tripura on October 8 to stand with party workers after the alleged vandalism of its state headquarters in Agartala by members of the BJP’s youth wing.

The delegation included TMC West Bengal general secretary Kunal Ghosh, MP Sayani Ghosh, Rajya Sabha MP Sushmita Dev, and youth leader Sudip Raha. The party claimed that its Tripura office was attacked on October 7, just a day after BJP MP Khagen Murmu and MLA Sankar Ghosh were assaulted in a flood-hit area of north Bengal.

Before departing from Kolkata, Kunal Ghosh said the visit was necessary to protest what he described as an assault on democratic values.

“We are ready to face any consequence there. But we have to go, as in a democracy, such attacks on the opponent party in the presence of the police should be protested and resisted peacefully,” Ghosh told reporters.

Sayani Ghosh sought to distance the TMC from the attack on BJP leaders in West Bengal, claiming it was the reaction of angry locals and not party workers.

“The attack was not initiated by the TMC workers but by aggrieved common men who were incensed over BJP leaders’ public statements that central funds would be blocked for the rural poor under the 100-day work scheme,” she said.

The MP added that the party condemned any attack on elected representatives and noted that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had personally met Khagen Murmu at the hospital.

However, Sayani Ghosh accused the BJP of orchestrating the attack on the TMC office in Tripura.

“The way BJP goons in Tripura carried out an unprovoked attack on the TMC party office and intimidated our workers in the presence of the Tripura Police spells great danger for democracy,” she said at the Kolkata airport.

She recalled previous incidents during former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb’s tenure when TMC leaders allegedly faced hostility.

“Even TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee's convoy was attacked at that time. We don't know what fate awaits us. But we are not scared,” she added.

The TMC delegation’s visit comes amid growing tensions between the two parties in both West Bengal and Tripura, as the political blame game over recent violence continues to intensify. (With inputs from PTI)