BJP Supporters Attacked In Tripura Ahead Of State Assembly Elections

Ahead of the upcoming assembly polls, five Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists were brutally assaulted allegedly by Marxist footsoldiers in Tripura on Friday (16 February). This has come perilously close to the day of the polls, which is this Sunday (18 February).

Three BJP candidates have been assaulted and hundreds of party supporters beaten up, tortured and their houses destroyed allegedly by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) cadre. Despite the deployment of central forces, the communists have been able to create a climate of fear due to gross inaction by the heavily politicised and pliant Tripura state police force.

This is not the first time that opposition candidates and supporters have had to contend with terror and the resulting demoralisation in the run-up to the polls. Not just in Tripura, this has happened earlier in Kerala as well (and in Bengal when the state was under CPI(M) rule). This climate of fear is dangerous before an election. The BJP fears that this latest attack might affect the election process this Sunday.

The Manik Sarkar-led CPI(M) government has been ruling the state for the last 25 years. The BJP is witnessing a groundswell of support for it, but nothing is certain till the last vote is cast.

Also Read: Tripura And The Myth Of Manik Sarkar