The Trinamool Congress on Wednesday put its best foot forward by using the alleged vandalism of its headquarters in Tripura as a major issue against the BJP — in an apparent attempt to neutralise the political impact of the brutal attack on BJP MP Khagen Murmu in north Bengal.

After reports of the attack on Trinamool's Tripura office reached Calcutta, the top leadership immediately decided to send a five-member team to the northeastern state. The team comprised the party’s youth president and Jadavpur MP Saayoni Ghosh, Jaynagar MP Pratima Mondal, state forest minister Birbaha Hansda, Bengal general secretary Kunal Ghosh, and student wing leader Sudip Raha. They were joined in Agartala by Rajya Sabha member Sushmita Dev.

Initially, there was an issue with the movement of the Trinamool delegation, as the BJP allegedly prevented the vehicles assigned for the leaders to travel to the party office. However, after a two-and-a-half-hour agitation and argument with the Tripura police, the delegation visited the vandalised party headquarters and met the state’s DGP to submit a memorandum regarding the attack.

An alleged BJP worker vandalises Trinamool’s Tripura office in Agartala on Tuesday. PTI

“The BJP made a blunder by attacking our party office in Tripura. The incident has given us a weapon to counter the BJP with the question of democracy, at a time when they are targeting our government over the attack on its MP. The issue was embarrassing because the MP whose bloodied picture went viral belongs to the tribal community,” said a senior Trinamool leader, adding that chief minister Mamata Banerjee herself took the decision to send a team to Tripura and monitored its activities throughout the day.

On Wednesday, Mamata claimed she had instructed the Trinamool delegates to walk to the vandalised office if they were not allowed to take a car. She even threatened to visit Tripura herself if the delegation failed to reach the Trinamool office.

“You have seen what happened in Tripura. A five-member team of our ministers, MPs, and MLAs was stopped at the airport. They were not even allowed to take a taxi. If they failed to reach even by foot, I would have gone there myself to see their audacity,” Mamata said, pointing out how democratic rights were being challenged in BJP-ruled Tripura.

“First, Abhishek Banerjee’s vehicle was vandalised in Tripura — stones were hurled. Where was all their talk of democracy then? When Dola Sen’s vehicle was attacked, when Sushmita Dev’s vehicle was attacked, when MPs’ and journalists’ vehicles were attacked — nothing was done. They always lie about Trinamool and support violence,” she added.

Trinamool has condemned the attack on Murmu but downplayed it by claiming that the attack was carried out by common villagers who were protesting against central deprivation and the absence of BJP lawmakers from the area since their election victories.

On Wednesday, Mamata went a step further and questioned whether the attack was a result of the BJP’s internal feud.

“Was it an internal feud behind the incident? I am saying so because the area is a BJP stronghold,” she added.

The BJP, however, clearly said Trinamool’s effort to shift attention to Tripura would not work.

“Now that Trinamool and Mamata Banerjee are trying to take the issue to Tripura, it will not be easy to erase what they have done to our lawmakers. They will get a befitting reply,” said senior BJP leader and former state party president Rahul Sinha.

Political scientists, however, raised questions about why the BJP-ruled Tripura government allowed Trinamool to gain political mileage by detaining the delegation for over two-and-a-half hours at the Agartala airport.

“Yes, Trinamool succeeded in diverting the issue by taking Bengal politics to Tripura. But the most important question is why the BJP-ruled Tripura government helped them gain political advantage by detaining the delegation at the airport. It’s part of a political equation. In the last Assembly polls in 2023, Trinamool secured six per cent of votes in Tripura, which helped the BJP win 17 seats that might otherwise have gone to the CPM or the Congress,” said political scientist Biswanath Chakraborty.

In the 17 seats, Trinamool secured more votes than the winning margin of the BJP.

Bengal governor C.V. Ananda Bose met President Droupadi Murmu in Delhi after visiting flood-ravaged north Bengal and meeting the injured MP. A source in Raj Bhavan said Bose had submitted a detailed report on the flood situation and lawlessness in Bengal, citing the attack on the tribal MP.

Bose held a news conference in Delhi on Wednesday evening, threatening to act “as per the Constitution” if the state failed to take proper action within 24 hours against those involved in the brutal attack on Murmu.

Two men were arrested in connection with the attack on Murmu on Wednesday evening, said sources in the ruling dispensation.