Communist patriarch Lenin’s statue demolished in Tripura

Following the declaration of state assembly election results in the northeast Indian state of Tripura, the statue of the Russian communist revolutionary and political theorist, Vladimir Lenin, which was installed at South Tripura’s Belonia College Square has been demolished using excavator. The statue was inaugurated by the former Tripura health minister Badal Choudhury during the Left Front regime. In a video that is being heavily circulated on social media, the statue is seen being pushed down by an excavator amidst slogans of “Bharat Mata ki jai.” The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is being blamed for the act, though the party has denied any involvement. Section 144 of the Indian Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) has been imposed across areas under the jurisdictions of 13 police stations by the West Tripura district administration since 6pm on Monday and will remain in effect till 6am on Wednesday.