Agartala, Mar 6 : Tripura royal scion and Chairman of Tripra Motha Pradyot Kishore Debbarman on Sunday asked the police to take appropriate steps against the ongoing violence and attacks on opposition parties to ensure the state is not defamed. He pointed out that violence and attacks on opposition had been a long tradition brought by the Comm sts in Tripura from West Bengal. After BJP came to power promising good governance with a modern outlook, people of the state thought the legacy of the CPI-M would end, but that did not happen. “Before last year’s election to Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (ADC), I was also attacked at several places including in the area of a senior minister of the state. The programmes of all opposition parties, leaders and supporters have been attacked for a long time, and the incidents are increasing day by day but there is no action. This has earned Tripura a bad name,” Pradyot mentioned. He said the police and administration must realise that criminals and anti-social elements have no political colour or identity. They often take shields of the rulers and sometimes they are also being used by the parties, but the administration must not endorse or recognise the criminals and perpetrators of violence. “I urge the police administration to look into the matter seriously and book all those criminals under the appropriate law to keep civilisation and democracy in order,” Pradyot stated, adding violence and counter-violence can in no way be helpful for the government and the ruling party. Pradyot also announced that Tipra Motha will hold a mega rally at Vivekananda stadium on March 12 to pursue a five-point charter of demands including immediate holding of elections to Village Committees (VC) of ADC, which has been due for long. Unless the state government takes steps for holding VC polls, Motha will move to the high court, stepping up the democratic movements, he warned. BB SSP