Prashant Kishor’s team detained in Tripura: sources

According to sources, Tripura police have detained 23 members of Prashant Kishor’s Indian Political Action Comittee (IPAC) team at the Woodland Park Hotel in Agartala since Sunday night. Sources said that the team has been put under house arrest.

A team of 23 people from IPAC, sources said, went to the survey work last week. The party members were staying at the hotel in the capital Agartala. The police suddenly raided the hotel on Sunday night and detained 23 members. Tripura Trinamool state president Ashish Lal Singh accused Tripura Chief Minister and BJP leader Biplob Deb of abuse of power.

Singh said, “The ground has shifted from the soles of the BJP’s feet in Tripura. That is why the police administration is trying to suppress the opposition.”

On July 21, the Tripura government was accused of trying to disrupt the Trinamool Martyrs’ Day programme in Agartala. The police suddenly picked up about 50 grassroots leaders and activists from the venue in Gouranganagar. Later, the police said that steps were taken keeping in view the Covid-19 situation.

Incidentally, after being appointed as Trinamool’s ‘advisor’ in July 2019, Kishor’s goal was ‘Mission 2021’. The Trinamool has decided to seek the help of IPAC even after the success of that ‘mission’ in the Assembly polls in West Bengal. BJP-ruled Tripura is scheduled to go to the polls in February 2023. According to local sources, Kishore has already started activism for the Trinamool in the state. Sources said that Prashant Kishor’s team had arrived here more than a week ago and had been moving in from different parts of the state to conduct their survey.