Cong candidate attacked in Tripura, party blames BJP

Sonamura (Tripura): The Congress in Tripura has accused the ruling BJP of attacking its Lok Sabha candidate from West Tripura constituency, Subal Bhowmik, when he was on his way to Agartala from Sipahijala. However, BJP has denied the charge.
Bhowmik, who quit BJP recently to join Congress, claimed that a group of ‘50 activists of the saffron party’ tried to block his way and damage his car at Melaghar Bazaar in the district, 10 km from here, on Thursday night. “I had a meeting scheduled at Indiranagar in Sipahijala district last night. As soon as I left the venue, a group of more than 50 activists of BJP tried to attack me and damage my car. However, the police came to my rescue,” Bhowmick told reporters.

Congress had organized a meeting at local leader Idris Mia’s residence in the district, where 70 activists of CPM joined the party. They were handed over flags of the Grand Old Party by Bhowmik. Corroborating Bhowmik’s claims, Mia said, “When Bhowmick left my house, the BJP activists wasted no time in attacking him. We all resisted and police managed to push them back.”

Poluram Das, the officer-in-charge of Melaghar police station, said a team of officers deployed in the area sprung into action as soon as it saw a mob approaching Bhowmik’s car. “We had information that Bhowmick could be attacked at Melaghar Bazar. So, we had deployed police officers in the area,” added Das. pti