Congress to move court against post-poll violence in Tripura

Agartala: The Congress on Saturday threatened to move court and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) against alleged attacks on party workers by CPM activists after the Tripura polls.

"We will report to Congress president Sonia Gandhi about the atrocities on party workers by the CPM. The party will move to the court and NHRC to intervene into these violence against Congressmen," Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told reporters in Agartala.

"This is the responsibility of the Left Front government to take appropriate steps to stop the post-poll violence," he said.

According to Gogoi and other Congress leaders, many Congress workers were injured and their houses burnt down allegedly by CPM (Communist Party of India-Marxist) workers in different parts of Tripura after the Left Front won the Feb 14 polls, results of which were declared February 28.

Gogoi, Congress general secretary in-charge of the northeastern states Luizinho Faleiro and Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmed met Governor DY Patil.

They urged Patil to ask the state government to take suitable actions to stop violence against Congress workers.

After briefing the media, when Gogoi, Faleiro, Ahmed, state Congress president Sudip Roy Barman and opposition leader Ratan Lal Nath were coming out from the Congress Bhavan here, agitated party workers attempted to attack them.

"Some Congress workers tried to reign blows on Faleiro. NSG (National Security Guards) commandos, who were protecting Gogoi, rescued the high-profile Congress delegation," a police official, present at the spot, told reporters.

The Congress workers were agitating against the party's failure in the Tripura polls and not extending any help to the distressed workers in the post-poll violence.

"None of the party leaders came to see us. We were out of our homes and they chose to disconnect our calls, leaving us helpless before our tormenters", Shibani Sengupta from Joynagar near here told reporters after the scuffle.

The CPM instead accused the Congress of resorting to violent attacks against its members injuring at least 20 in different parts of the state.

The Congress suffered a humiliating defeat in Tripura bagging only 10 seats in the 60-member house while the CPM-led Left Front retained the political supremacy securing 50 seats.