CORRESPONDENT
AGARTALA: Leader of the Opposition Jiten Choudhury's remark describing South Tripura Superintendent of Police Mourya Krishna C as an "idiot" has sparked a controversy in the state's political and administrative circles. The ruling BJP condemned the remark, and the issue took a different turn when the All India Services Association, an umbrella body of IAS, IPS and IFS officers, intervened and sought an apology from him.
LoP Jiten Choudhury, who is also the CPI(M) state secretary, admitted that he made the "inappropriate" comment in the heat of the moment, but that failed to ease the tension. The ruling BJP made the issue a political campaign against the LoP. Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha also condemned the remark.
The controversy began after a heated exchange between CPI(M) leaders and police officials at Chittakhola in Belonia when police stopped a rally organised by the party. CPI(M) leaders alleged that they had obtained due permission from the police well in advance, but the rally was stopped about three kilometres before reaching its destination. Choudhury tried to contact the SP by phone, but the officer did not answer the call. In that situation, he referred to the SP as an "idiot".
Within hours, the All India Services Association issued a statement condemning the remark and demanded an apology from the Leader of the Opposition. Choudhury admitted that the comment was inappropriate but refused to apologise. Instead, he accused the SP of depriving opposition political parties of their democratic rights at the behest of the Chief Minister.
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