Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy has commented on the controversy surrounding the demolition of a statue of communist icon Lenin by BJP supporters in the southern town of Belonia.
“What one democratically elected government can do another democratically elected government can undo. And vice versa,” Mr. Roy tweeted on Tuesday.
People celebrating the BJP’s Assembly polls victory in Tripura brought down the statue of Lenin — set up a year ago near a government college in Belonia — with a bulldozer on Monday afternoon. The town is about 90 km south of the State capital Agartala.
Mr. Roy is believed to have referred to instances of statues of leaders iconic to other parties demolished or defiled in the past. They include those of Rajiv Gandhi immediately after the Left Front won the elections in 2008.
BJP National General Secretary Ram Madhav too tweeted a picture of Lenin’s statue being demolished, but without any comment.
Tweets on RSS activists
On Monday, Mr. Roy had taken to Twitter attacking critics for “misunderstanding” his decision on the death of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activists in the recent past.
“I never asked for any probe into the death of four Swayamsevaks. I simply said I’ll ask the new (BJP-led coalition) government to find their remains if possible! Strange that a simple tweet is misunderstood deliberately?” he said in a tweet on Monday.
The Governor also praised Tripura BJP president Biplab Kumar Deb for meeting outgoing Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and touching his feet for his blessings after laying a wreath upon the body of Khagendra Jamatiya, the CPI(M) candidate and minister who died at AIIMS in New Delhi before counting began on March 3.
“Very healthy democratic norms are being set up in Tripura,” Mr. Roy tweeted.
The Tripura Governor is not new to controversy in the world of Twitter. In 2016, he tweeted: “Whatever gave you the notion I am secular? I am a Hindu. My state, India, however is secular since 1976.” This was in response to a man who identified himself as a Dubai-based Marxist “currently fighting the Fascist Indian”.
He had also criticised the mourners of 1993 Mumbai blasts accused Yakub Memon, who was hanged. “Intelligence shd keep a tab on all who assembled bfr Yakub Memon’s corpse. Many are potential terrorists,” he had tweeted on July 31, 2015.
