The CPI(M) has accused the BJP of trying to "foment" ethnic strife in Tripura in cahoots with the Trinamool Congress and extremist groups as part of a "larger game plan" to destabilise Left governments.
CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury has alleged that the issue was "extremely potent" and has the potential to "disrupt" peace in the north eastern state, where the ethnic problem has ebbed during the past several years.
"This is part of a larger game plan and is very serious. The idea is to destabilise the Left governments in the country. In Tripura, the BJP is trying, along with the Trinamool Congress and some extremist tribal groups, to foment trouble once again...
"What has not been there in Tripura for some decades now is the animosity between the tribals and the non-tribals. That is a very potent issue in Tripura and can disrupt peace there, completely like what is happening in other north eastern states," Yechury said during an interaction with PTI scribes here.
He was responding to a question on the recent realignment of the opposition in Tripura with six Congress MLAs switching to the TMC and the BJP's efforts to strengthen its presence there.
The entire design was to project a law and order situation in the Left-ruled states and destabilise the governments by "trying and utilising Article 356 and the Governor's rule to carry out their agenda", he said.
Asked about the clashes between RSS and CPI(M) workers in Kerala, another Left-ruled state, Yechury said the violence there has taken the form of a "vicious cycle" and talks were the only way out.
He said the CPI(M)'s opposition to the RSS' attempts to make inroads in northern Kerala, a Muslim-dominated region, was the root cause of the violence. He likened the two groups to "two soldiers at a war front".
"I have appealed to the RSS in Kerala that our party and the government will convene peace talks. We want them to come. We are prepared. There's no other way you can stop this vicious cycle because once it happens, the retaliation is not under your control any longer," he said.
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