Two days after he was shown black flags and stopped from joining a rally at Dhalali district, around 90km from here, Tripura Congress chief Birajit Sinha today alleged that the ruling BJP had "sponsored goons" to attack him near the venue of the public meeting.
The saffron party, however, dismissed the allegations and said Sinha was attacked by members of his own party.
Talking to the press, the Congress president also claimed that the BJP-IPFT coalition withdrew his security cover after assuming office to "restrict his movements" for organizational works.
The state government, after coming to power on March 9, had removed the security guards of Sinha and Gopal Roy, an ex-MLA of the Congress.
"A group of goons sponsored by the BJP had attempted an attack on me in a bid to prevent me from joining a rally at Halahali in Dhalai district. It is now difficult for us to move in different parts of the state for political and organizational works," Sinha told reporters.
The state Congress chief threatened to launch a protest outside the office of the director general of police, demanding restitution of his security cover.
"At least 5000 activists of the Congress will gherao the DGP's office to seek the restoration of security for the party leaders," he said.
Sinha also said that the former Congress MLAs, who joined the BJP, still enjoys security cover.
It is a "political discrimination", Tapas Dey, the party's vice president, said.
"The state unit president of the ruling BJP, Pratima Bhowmick, still enjoys a security cover, but the Congress president had to let go of his guards," Dey said.
If any Congress leader is "attacked or murdered", the onus would lie on the BJP government, he added.
Reacting to the allegations of the Congress, BJP spokesperson Mrinal Kanti Deb said Sinha was a "victim of infighting" within his party.
"The Congress chief was attacked at Dhalali by members of his own party. The Congress has no political significance and the BJP won't do any such thing," he added.
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