Agartala: Seven political party and affiliated trade union offices illegally built on government land were bulldozed at Old Motorstand here on Monday.

The demolition drive began on Monday morning and continued for several hours.

Over 100 illegal structures of political parties were identified in West Tripura district. These would be demolished in the coming days, district magistrate (West Tripura) Milind Ramteke said.

Ramteke told T he Telegraph that a deadline of seven days was served to all political parties on April 30 to remove structures illegally built on government land.

The deadline expired on Sunday night and demolition started on Monday morning, he said.

"There are 104 identified structures in West Tripura district. We started with six to seven offices of different parties and affiliated union offices at Old Motorstand on Monday. There will be similar demolition drives for all identified structures ahead. Everyday some illegal office will be razed," Ramteke said.

Opposition CPM and Congress leaders on Sunday admitted having party and affiliated union offices on government land but criticised the government decision to bulldoze them. Both parties sought allotment on the same land or elsewhere in exchange of revenue which they were ready to pay.

However, Ramteke ruled out any such possibility saying, "The decision is very clear. All unauthorised offices of all parties on government land will be demolished or removed. There is no question of accepting revenue or avoiding demolition." He added that no party approached his office with a plea to accept revenue and exempt illegal offices from demolition.

Former minister and CPM trade union leader Manik Dey criticised the move and said the demolition reminded him of the Emergency.

"It is worse than the Emergency. During that time, a government team came to bulldoze this office. But they pulled back in the face of resistance from the working class," Dey said in front of a dismantled office of a CPM motor workers' union.

Congress leaders later staged a demonstration in front of Ramteke's office.

PCC president Birajit Sinha said, "There were many Congress offices since several years, many as old as 50 years. An Intuc office was demolished on Monday. This move to demolish offices has surpassed the martial law," Sinha said.