Days after BJP win in Tripura, mob razes Lenin statue in Belonia town

Agartala: Forty-eight hours after Assembly election results were announced in Tripura, a statue of the Russian Communist revolutionary and the first leader of the former Soviet Union, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known as Lenin was brought down by a mob.

The Nirav Modi wave in Tripura bulldozing statue of Lenin. Planet Apes have taken over the country, the fight now is for existence of human values. #DemocracyDemonetised pic.twitter.com/lqdUSt2AmE

— Priyanka Gandhi (@WithPGV) March 5, 2018

The statue was situated in south Tripura's Belonia town. The statue was brought down amid chants of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.

The statue was built 5 years ago on the 21st year of CPI-M's rule in Tripura.

The entire incident of the statue falling down was captured.

The CPI-M claims that the incident is an example of "Communist phobia", the Indian Express reported. At the same time, BJP said that the statue was taken down by the people of Tripura who were oppressed by the Left.

BJP workers have also been accused of vandalising CPI-M's offices in various parts of Tripura. Incidents of vandalism were reported from Bishalgarh, Amarendranagar, Mohanpur, Sabroom, Melagarh, Khowai, Jirania, Khomlung, Belonia, Ramnagar (Agartala), and South Ramnagar (Agartala).

The incidents came to light two days after the BJP and Indigenous People Front of Tripura (IPFT) won a majority of seats in the recently held assembly elections.

Visuals of CPI (M) offices vandalised in different locations in #Tripura. pic.twitter.com/YUxpzRTksl

— ANI (@ANI) March 5, 2018

Defending the actions, Tripura governor Tathagata Roy tweeted that a newly elected government was within its right to undo what the previous government had done. "What one democratically elected government can do another democratically elected government can undo. And vice versa," Roy wrote.

What one democratically elected government can do another democratically elected government can undo. And vice versa https://t.co/Og8S1wjrJs

— Tathagata Roy (@tathagata2) March 5, 2018

However, the BJP has denied the party's involvement in these incidents, instead saying it was a result of "discontent of common people". BJP spokesperson Mrinal Kanti Deb said he was not aware of any such incident, but even if they took place, they weren't approved by BJP.

"Statues of Lenin and other communist statesmen were demolished after the Soviet Union broke up. Similarly, such an incident would be a result of discontent of common people," Deb said.