Pandemonium in Tripura assembly over chief minister’s remarks

AGARTALA - Proceedings in the Tripura assembly were disrupted Tuesday and the house finally adjourned for the day without transacting any business as opposition members vehemently protested Chief Minister Manik Sarkar’s comments on a nexus between outlawed terror groups and political parties.

Slogan shouting Congress legislators led by Leader of Opposition Ratan Lal Nath demanded withdrawal of the chief minister’s comments and sought an apology from him for his “baseless, unfounded and false allegation against the Congress (party)”.

The house witnessed uproarious scenes since Monday when during a debate over militancy in the state, Sarkar, who also holds the home portfolio, said: “The regional Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) has a link with militant outfits. The Congress has a political alliance with INPT, thus the separatist outfits are getting indirect support from the main opposition party.”

The pandemonium resumed as soon as the house assembled Tuesday, the second day of the three-day winter session. Speaker Ramendra Chandra Debnath adjourned the house three times before he finally adjourned it for the day.

“The chief minister has made an irresponsible comments as he has no evidence that the Congress is providing any support to the extremists. Onus of proof of such remarks lies with the chief minister,” Nath said

Nath, along with Congress legislator Sudip Roy Burman, told reporters outside the house: “During the regime of Sarkar, a series of crimes, corrupt activities and irregularities have taken place, but the chief minister could not solve or check any of these problems.”

“If the chief minister has documents to support that the Congress and INPT are involved with the outlawed guerrillas, why does he suppress all these matters,” the Congress lawmakers asked.

They also demanded a judicial probe by a sitting Supreme Court judge to unearth the truth.