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Agartala, Sept. 10: The heckling of Bengal legislator Abhijit Mukherjee, son of President Pranab Mukherjee, has emerged as the new focal point of intense factional feuds within the Tripura Congress.
Sitting party MLA and PCC general secretary Subal Bhowmik blamed the official faction of the Congress, headed by fellow legislator Sudip Roy Barman for the fiasco.
Bhowmik did not directly name the PCC president, but his barbs and digs left no one in doubt about the person he was alluding to.
“I was present on the spot on September 6 when Mukherjee was heckled in a most disgraceful way in front of so many party workers without any rhyme or reason. Balai Goswami, a follower of the PCC’s ruling faction, dared to ask Mukherjee why he had come without the PCC president’s permission and without informing him,” Bhowmik said.
In an interaction with the media in Agartala Press Club this morning, he said about informing AICC president Sonia Gandhi of what had happened in Kalibazar on September 6 and was awaiting the AICC’s action.
“Instead of condemning the attack on Mukherjee, the PCC issued an inane statement claiming no such thing had happened. I was an eyewitness to what had happened on that black day,” Bhowmik said.
Venting his ire on the official faction of the PCC, Bhowmik referred to earlier incidents of attacks on Congress legal cell chief and senior advocate Pijush Biswas within Congress Bhawan in 2007.
He mentioned about maligning former Congress MLA Tapas De, hurling of a telephone set at former PCC president Surajit Dutta and constant barracking of AICC secretary K. Jaykumar’s vehicle.
“Everybody knows who had shut down Congress Bhawan in the heart of Agartala in December 2010. Unless elements who did these are expelled from the party, the Congress will suffer irreparable damage,” Bhowmik said.
He also held these elements responsible for the fall of the Congress government in 1977, and debacles suffered by the party in 1978, 1993 and 2008 Assembly polls.
“In 1978, we had drawn a blank, in 1993 and 2008 we had won only 10 seats each and genuine Congressmen shudder to think what may happen in the future,” Bhowmik said. He added that he was prepared to go to any length to secure justice and to ensure that party is put back on the rails.
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