EastMojo tries to understand the politics of violence in Tripura ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections… Is the TMC’s re-entry into the state making the ruling BJP nervous? Does the CPI (M) have a chance to return? Will the now-decimated Congress party make any gains?
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Agartala: A 2020 National Crime Records Bureau report puts Tripura on top of all Northeastern states in terms of political conflicts and violence.
According to the report, 83 cases of rioting were reported in Tripura, of which 22 were of political conflicts, 83 incidents of social violence, 3 incidents of rioting during a rally, and 89 offences against Public Tranquility, 2020 NCRB report on Tripura: 83 cases of rioting, 22 political conflicts, 83 incidences of social violence, 3 incidences of rioting during a rally.
The TMC’s entry into the state also took place amid similar circumstances, where offices of three media houses and three offices of the CPI(M) were ransacked on September 8 following clashes between the left party and the BJP, leaving more than 60 people injured at different places in the state.
A more recent incident saw TMC party supporters getting attacked and the two-vehicle convoy of their leader Sushmita Dev vandalized.
Tripura will be going to the polls in 2023 and despite all the hurdles, the TMC is confident of toppling the BJP and forming the next government. TMC’s Subal Bhowmik said, “Tripura is a small and different state but the politics here is much bigger than Uttar Pradesh.”
Along with TMC’s re-entry, Tripura also witnessed the formation of a new party. The Tripura Democratic Front, which, like the TMC, also consists of members from the Congress, including former state Congress president Pijush Biswas, his son and former youth Congress president Pujan Biswas and ex-vice president Tapas Dey.
Meanwhile, what was once considered a force to reckon with in Tripura, the Congress is now rendered to a mere signboard.
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