Tripura: Shutdown against CPI-M Zilla Parishad candidate’s murder evokes little response

Agartala, July 14 (IANS) The 12-hour shutdown called by the Left parties in Tripura on Sunday to protest the murder of CPI-M candidate Badal Shil for the South Tripura Zilla Parishad in the August 8 Panchayat elections evoked little response in the state.According to police, most shops and markets were open and vehicles plied almost normally across the state.A police official said that there was no report of any untoward incident in the state so far.He said that there was no picketing or gathering in support of the shutdown.A huge contingent of forces have been deployed in sensitive and important areas.The ruling BJP opposed the shutdown while the opposition Congress supported it.Congress Working Committee member and former minister Sudip Roy Barman said that his party would support the Left Front-sponsored shutdown on Sunday.However, BJP spokesman Nabendu Bhattacharjee said that his party would strongly oppose the shutdown as it would disturb the normal situation of the state ahead of the Panchayat elections.A large number of CPI-M workers, members and leaders organised condolence rallies with the body of the departed party leader in different districts on Sunday.The body of Shil was brought to the CPI-M state headquarters in Agartala where the party leaders including former chief minister Manik Sarkar, former Assembly deputy speaker Pabitra Kar, CPI-M state secretary and opposition leader Jitendra Chaudhury paid their last respects to the 51-year-old slain leader.Tripura Left Front convener Narayan Kar alleged that Badal Shil was critically injured in a deadly attack by ruling BJP-backed assailants on Friday at Rajnagar in South Tripura district.The CPI-M leader, after preliminary treatment in the local hospital, was shifted to the government-run Govind Ballabh Pant Medical College and Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries on Saturday afternoon, Kar told the media.More than a dozen Left party leaders and members were injured across the state in the BJP attacks after the panchayat election schedule was announced on July 10.Elections to the three-tier Gram Panchayats in Tripura will be held on August 8 and the votes will be counted on August 12.Amid sporadic incidents of violence, candidates of various political parties are submitting their nominations in 370 seats in 606 Gram Panchayats, 423 seats in 35 Panchayat Samitis, and 116 seats in eight Zilla Parishads.–IANSsc/uk