Agartala, Oct 30: TMC on Saturday alleged that the Tripura govt is trying to create hurdles in the arrangement for the public rally of its national General secretary Abhoshel Banerjee on Sunday at state capital Agartala after the state police asked TMC to change its rally venue due to Covid norms.
To force us to change the venue of the public meeting of @abhishekaitc at this last minute is a desperate attempt by @BjpBiplab to sabotage out of fear.
It won’t work !
Felt great when people came to join the party, specially women, while we were protesting at the venue. pic.twitter.com/pkOurAzGt4
— Sushmita Dev সুস্মিতা দেব (@SushmitaDevAITC) October 30, 2021
TMC has also alleged that the Tripura government has issued a new SOP where it is mandatory to get a negative RT-PCR test report on arrival from West Bengal and few other states.
Speaking on the hurdles faced for the party’s mega rally, TMC Rajya Sabha MP, Sushmita Dev said, “First, they suddenly brought the new mandatory RT-PCR rule. Secondly, now they want us to change the venue to a field. So, will Covid not happen in the field? Does Covid ask Biplab Deb the place where it’s outbreak would take place.”
In his defence, SDPO Ramesh Yadav said, “We have communicated 48 hours ahead to change venue, they replied back late. We are not stopping them but asking them to change venue since their gathering will be large so we are giving them a larger venue so that distance can be maintained as per covid norms.”
TMC’s wait for mega rally
Trinamool All India General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee was scheduled to hold a programme in front of Rabindra Bhavan in Agartala on Sunday. Permission was sought from the state police on behalf of the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Banerjee’s rally in Tripura has been blocked thrice before. It was first slated to happen on September 15. However, permission was denied by authorities, who said another political party had a programme on the same day. Approval was then sought for September 16, which was also denied. Finally, a rally was planned for September 23 by Trinamool. The permission issue went to Court and the government then pointed to Covid-induced restrictions and imposed section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) that prohibits unlawful assembly.
