Agartala, April 13 (IANS) Tripura Leader of the Opposition (LoP), Jitendra Chaudhury on Sunday urged Chief Minister Manik Saha to re-establish the statue of the leading communist leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Baidyanath Majumder at its original place in Kailashahar after replacing an idol of Lord Ram.
Request of the LoP, also CPI-M’s Tripura state Secretary, to the Chief Minister comes two-day after unidentified persons installed the idol of Lord Ram at the same cement structure where the statue of the prominent CPI-M’s leader Baidyanath Majumder was situated in Unakoti district town Kailashahar before it was bulldozed in March 2018 after the BJP came to power in the state.
In his letter to the Chief Minister, the LoP, a CPI-M politburo member, said that the idol of Lord Ram was installed at the same spot where the statue of former Deputy Chief Minister Baidyanath Majumder was situated before it was dismantled and thrown into the Manu River after the 2018 Assembly elections.
“Former Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb had also condemned the heinous act and assured of reinstalling the statue, but he did not maintain his commitment,” the LoP said.
He added: “Like the people of all sections of the state, you also might be saddened by the installation of an idol of Lord Ram in place of the communist leader’s statue. This action is against the spirit of Tripura’s tradition and culture.”
The LoP requested the Chief Minister to relocate the Lord Ram idol to a suitable place or temple and reinstall the Left leader’s statue with full honour.
“Baidyanath Majumder, one of the most prominent communist leaders, had dedicated his entire life to the cause of the people and went to jail under the British regime,” the LoP said.
Meanwhile, BJP’s Unakoti district President Bimal Kar, while talking to the media, strongly denied the involvement of any party workers or leaders in the installation of the idol of Lord Ram at the spot where the statue of the distinguished communist leader was situated before being dismantled.
The installation of the idol of Lord Ram came amid the CPI-M’s plan to rebuild a new statue of Majumder to honour his legacy.
The statue of the former Deputy Chief Minister was first installed at the same spot in Kailashahar in 2012.
–IANS
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