Agartala, Dec. 18: The Tripura Bhawan in New Delhi has become the battleground for rival groups of the Congress lobbying for tickets for the forthcoming Assembly polls.
The supporters of PCC president Birajit Sinha had, on Monday, clashed with the followers of Congress legislator Surajit Datta over the distribution of food from the canteen, forcing the Tripura Bhawan staff to call in the police.
Although the supporters fled soon after the arrival of forces from the Chanakyapuri police station, the police maintained the picket for a day.
The two camps had first clashed here last week when the supporters of the PCC president had taken on their rivals in front of the Congress Bhawan in the town.
After the police picket was lifted in Delhi, fresh trouble erupted between supporters of Mantu Das and Mahitosh Saha, both aspirants for the Banamalipur Assembly constituency tickets, over the distribution of food from the subsidised canteen.
Although the Tripura Bhawan staff had, after Monday’s incident, made it clear that food would only be served to those residing in the house, a large group of Congressmen yesterday assembled at the lounge and the kitchen of the Bhawan demanding food.
They also damaged bhawan property before escaping. Official sources here said that the staff had made it clear to the joint resident commissioner that if the trouble continued they would be forced to cease work.
The sources said more than 800 Congressmen of rival groups had assembled at Tripura Bhawan in Delhi, which has limited capacity, and demanded accommodation and food.
“As all the affordable hotels were booked, the Congressmen had nowhere to stay. They, therefore, invaded Tripura Bhawan,” a source said.
The party leaders, camping in Delhi to lobby for nomination, have failed to control their supporters. Official sources said if the problem continued they would be forced to take action against the Congress activists.
Reangs protest
More than 30,000 Reang refugees from Mizoram, who have been living in five camps of North Tripura over the past five years, have demanded immediate repatriation.
Nearly 2,000 refugees today organised a demonstration in Kanchanpur sub-divisional town in protest against the policies of the Mizoram government. They also burnt an effigy of Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga to protest his decision not to repatriate the refugees.
Official sources from Kanchanpur said the refugees also submitted a memorandum to deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani through the sub-divisional officer of Kanchanpur demanding early repatriation of refugees and Centre’s intervention in this regard.
The Reangs, who fled to Tripura in October, 1997, following largescale ethnic violence in Mizoram, have been living in camps since then. The Mizoram government, which links the repatriation issue with insurgent activities of the Bru National Liberation Front (BNLF), a Reang outfit, has refused to accept most of the camp inmates as bonafide residents of the state. The Union home ministry spends crores of rupees on the maintenance of the refugees every year.
