Cong squabble in Tripura takes ugly turn

AGARTALA, April 12 ? The perennial Congress squabble took an ugly turn yesterday when some unruly workers heckled PCC president Birajit Sinha at Agartala airport. Sinha had gone to receive the two AICC observers R K Tomba and S Raj Kumar when the Congress activists allegedly belonging to his detractors? faction, heckled him. They were demanding his immediate removal from the post of the PCC president. The Congress chiefs vehicle also bore the brunt as the workers resorted to stone pelting. Tomba and Rajkumar have come to Tripura to supervise the organisational activities in all the districts and receive biodata of the party ticket aspirants for the next Assembly elections. The Congress has been facing serious infights among the leaders for long. But of late the strife intensified as the party State unit president was readying to kick-start the Assembly poll preparation. Only recently Youth Congress president Sudip Roy Barman in an unprecedented move demanded immediate removal of Sinha from the coveted post for his failure to run the party affairs. Sinha, in turn, fired a letter to the AICC demanding Roy Barman?s resignation for his anti-party activities. Amid the mud-slingings, in a new realignment of party leadership as many as nine MLAs are reported to have sent a signed letter to the High Command demanding Sinha?s removal. They include ? CLP leader Jawhar Shaha, Kashiram Reang, Dilip Sarkar, Ratan Lal Nath, Surajit Datta, Dipak Roy, Sudip Roy Barman, Kajal Das and Prakash Das. Among them Prakash Das was till recently close to Sinha. They are reported to have sent a fax message to AICC president Sonia Gandhi last ight and met the two observers this evening again on the same issue.

The MLAs who are reported to have signed the letter when contacted stepped short of making any direct comment on the report. While some of them avoided any direct reply, some preferred to remain ambiguous. There are also reports of 35 PCC members meeting the two AICC representatives demanding removal of Sinha. While bickerings and allegations and counter-allegations dogged the party, the Congress however, carried on with its pre-scheduled programme of ?Narendra Modi hatao? agitation throughout the day. The leaders and workers wore black badge and participated in other programmes as directed by the AICC. Later, at evening in a press conference PCC president though admitted that his vehicle was damaged he did not want to name any body for creating the scene. He elaborated the programmes organised today on the occasion of Narendra Hatao movement.