The rift in BJP in Tripura came out in open after party MLA Sudip Roy Barman has called for a rally on January 3 against his own government over increasing incidents of crime against women in the state.
MLA Roy Barman in an open letter has invited a cross section of society to the rally to be held in Agartala.
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Roy Barman claimed that a number of BJP MLAs have support to the plan.
BJP, meanwhile, warned its supporters on social media not to join the programme, TOI reported.
BJP leaders have taken Roy Barman’s move as a challenge to the government on the law and order situation.
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The party state leadership has reportedly issued directions to all mandal committees to prevent people participating in any such rally, the newspaper said.
Besides Roy Barman, several other BJP MLAs have taken it as a task to make the event successful.
Top office-bearer of the BJP, however, remained mum on the development.
Sudip’s workers said there was no improvement in law and order in the state during BJP’s rule in the last 22 months.
BJP state secretary Tapas Majumder, without naming Roybarman, in a Facebook post on Monday warned, “People who are BJP, will not respond to the call of this leader.
“Those who respond would not be allowed to carry the saffron flag anymore,” he said.
The post has been shared among different groups, but Majumder declined to elaborate on the issue.
According to reports, the state government might not give permission to the rally.
However, team Sudip asserted that they are looking at the participation of at least 15,000 people, including senior BJP leaders, in the rally to make people and police aware about the crimes against women.
Roy Barman, who held several key departments in the Biplab Dev government including public works, health & family welfare and industry & commerce (IT), was removed from the state cabinet in February this year.
He was reportedly dropped from the state cabinet because of his alleged “anti-party activities”
Roy Barman had left the Congress in 2016 and joined Trinamool Congress. A year later, he and five other Trinamool Congress MLAs joined the BJP.
A Congress leader in Tripura has recently said that Assembly elections in Tripura on cards.