Over 100 attacks on CPI(M) workers since BJP formed govt in Tripura: Yechury

The CPI(M) alleged Saturday that more than hundred attacks had taken place against its cadre in Tripura since the BJP came to power in the state in March.

"Since the formation of (the) BJP-IPFT government, attacks on CPI(M) workers and their families have taken place in multifarious manners, including outright murder," party general secretary Sitaram Yechury said at a press conference here, while releasing a booklet documenting the incidents of violence against its cadre in the north-eastern state.

More than 100 such attacks have taken place since March this year, although the booklet prepared by politburo member Brinda Karat documents 70 of these incidents, Yechury said.

The booklet, titled 'Democracy Under Attack - Testimonies from Triupura', was based on interviews of affected party workers and their family members.

"The disturbing fact is that (the) RSS-BJP are trying to sow communal divide in the state," Karat said.

The party slammed the disruption of a meeting of former Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar at Bishalgarh on Friday, claiming 35 people were injured in an attack by the Bharatiya Janata Party workers.

Yechury alleged that the law-and-order machinery in the state was working at the behest of the ruling party in the state.

The CPI(M) politburo has demanded that the state government take immediate steps to prevent violent attacks on its workers and ensure conducting of normal political activities.

The BJP, however, denied the allegations as false and baseless.

"This is their propaganda model to give false statement to turn falsehood into truth. Nothing such has happened in Bishalgarh," Ashoke Sinha, the BJP spokesperson in Tripura, said Saturday.

"Our chief minister, Biplab Kumar Deb, has strongly directed (the) police to be neutral and take appropriate action against the hoodlums, irrespective of any party affiliations. The allegations are completely false and baseless," Sinha added.