CPI-M, BJP trade charges over attacks on idols

Tripura's ruling CPI-M and the BJP on Wednesday accused each other of damaging Hindu idols to fuel communal tensions ahead of Assembly polls in February.

Bijan Dhar, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) state Secretary, said Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) cadres backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party had damaged the idols of goddesses in at least six different places in the state.

"These were done to create communal tensions in Tripura before the Assembly election," said Dhar. He said police arrested some people, including BJP and RSS members, in connection with the incidents. One of the BJP workers was a former militant.

The BJP refuted the accusations and blamed the Left for the sacrilege.

The reports of damage to idols first appeared in the CPI-M mouthpiece 'Daily Desher Katha', BJP Tripura President Biplab Kumar Deb told the media.

"(By) creating communal tension and ethnic trouble, the CPI-M has remained in power for around 25 years. They always divided people on communal and ethnic lines," he said.

--IANS

sc/him/mr