Opposition Left Front put its weight behind Roy Barman and squarely blamed the ruling BJP for resorting to violence before by-polls , while on the other hand BJP alleged that Roy Barman was resorting to dramabazi to garner sympathy.
“He was just mimicking Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal who had resorted to similar gimmick showing a ‘broken leg’, said Sushanta Chowdhury ICA minister—who once happened to be Roy Barman’s blue-eyed boy—in a press conference.
“The attack on the Congress leader was a ‘pre-planned drama’ to draw people’s sympathy ahead of the by-polls”.
“Roy Barman along with a group of ‘outsiders’ went to Abhoynagar on Sunday night to attack our party karyakartas but he failed to do so and staged the drama. Initially, one BJP worker was left injured and campaign materials were damaged. After receiving information over phone calls, when we reached the spot, the security force personnel were already present there and the situation was under control,” Chowdhury told the press conference.
According to Chowdhury, there is no booth office of Congress in 6- Agartala constituency and there is no public support for Roy Barman. The drama was merely a reflection of Roy Barman’s frustration in anticipation of a huge defeat in the ensuing election.
“It was an attempt to gain sympathy before the elections, like West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had faked an injury on her left leg and moved around in a wheelchair during the assembly election last year to draw sympathy from people. As soon as the election was over, she was seen running. But, she lost the poll battle from Nandigram.”
His plan is not going to work as BJP candidate Dr. Ashok Sinha is set to secure the victory with a huge margin, Chowdhury told the media.
In the meantime, Left Front came out with support for Roy Barman. While former Chief Minister and Politburo member Manik Sarkar visited Roy Barman in ILS Hospital, the Left Front in a statement said “Vindicating our apprehension of violence in the election Sudip Roy Barman, Congress candidate from 6-Agartala Assembly Constituency was attempted to be murdered last night by the ruling BJP miscreants, in presence of the BJP candidate and a Minister namely Sushanta Chowdhury, who according to eye-witness, instead of restraining the miscreants, incited them to attack Sri Roy Barman. This is one of the fatal attacks that were carried on many opposition supporters since the bye-election process started”.
“If the ruling BJP party in the state can show such an high degree of impatience towards the opposition candidate, we shudder to think of the common voters mainly the opposition supporters who have to defy the red eyes of the ruling party hoodlums to approach to the polling booths on the poll-day”.
