The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and opposition Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Tripura are at loggerheads over the foundation of a Ram temple in the state's southern Matai village, according to a report by The Indian Express.
The CPI(M) has claimed that the foundation stone for the temple was laid by the BJP and the Sanatan Sena, a Hindutva outfit, after removing a memorial of Mohini Tripura, a communist leader.
"BJP vice-president Subal Bhowmik and one Mrinal Sen, chief of Sanatan Sena’s Tripura chapter, have removed the memorial and laid the foundation stone for a Ram Mandir," CPI (M) state leader Tapas Dutta told the newspaper. Dutta added that this was done in order to "erase the history of Left democratic struggle."
Mohini Tripura, according to the report, was a tribal rights leader who led a movement in 1968 against the then Congress-led state government.