Agartala, March 21: The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) today unanimously elected Ratanlal Nath as leader of the Tripura Opposition and formally introduced him to the House on the second day of the opening session of the Assembly.
AICC general secretaries Mani Shankar Aiyar and Mukul Wasnik, who arrived here on Wednesday, held talks with the 13 Congress legislators of the party over the past two days.
PCC president Birajit Sinha and former chief minister Samir Ranjan Barman, who was also a contender for the post, accompanied Nath to Speaker Ramendra Debnath before the Assembly session today and submitted papers on his nomination as leader of the Opposition as well as the CLP.
Speaking on the occasion, Nath said as leader of the Opposition he would follow the example set by stalwarts like Nripen Chakraborty, Sudhir Ranjan Mazumder and Samir Ranjan Barman. Nath said that he would “criticise the government constructively and offer co-operation in the interest of the House”.
Addressing a news conference at the Congress Bhawan later today, Aiyar condemned the continuing atrocities being perpetrated on party workers all over the state by supporters of ruling CPM. He alleged that a large number of Congress workers, who had fled their homes after the poll results were declared, were still unable to return.
Aiyar said he, along with Mukul Wasnik, had met Governor Lt. Gen. (retd) Krishna Mohan Seth and apprised him of the situation. “The Governor gave us a patient hearing and promised to look into the matter,” he said.
On the poor performance of the Congress-Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) combine in the recent polls, Aiyar said the results were far below expectations.
He claimed that his party’s alliance with the INPT was “based on sound principles” and denied that INPT leader Bijay Hrangkhawl’s controversial speech in Geneva last year had harmed the prospects of the Congress in the elections.
Enteric deaths
The INPT has claimed that five tribals have died of enteric diseases in the remote Raisyabari area near the Indo-Bangla border between February 27 and March 15.
An INPT delegation, led by MLA and party general secretary Rabindra Debbarma, which visited Raisyabari on Monday, alleged that the tribals had died without any treatment.
Debbarma said on February 27, Tirtharung Tripura,a tribal woman, had died of an enteric disorder in Jer Kumar Para village near the Raisyabari market.
Four other enteric victims — Chaitra Tripura, Khjorangjay Tripura, Mohanda Tripura and Anirung Tripura — died in the Purba Raima, Chandipara, Tuibakla and Ram Kumar Para villages over the past fortnight. None of them received any medical help, he said. “All the deaths occurred due to consumption of wild berries and contaminated water,” Debbarma said.
He alleged that though the CPM had distributed 30 kg of rice and Rs 200 to every family living in the area before the elections, it had done nothing after returning to power.