Curious case of the ‘Bike Bahini’ in Tripura: BJP rides it out as Opposition cries foul

The Opposition has flagged the presence of a large number of motorcycles in the state bearing Uttar Pradesh number plates.

6 min readAgartalaUpdated: Sep 17, 2022 03:42 PM IST

Two days ago, CPM state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury wrote to Chief Secretary Nabendu, expressing the apprehension that these motorcycles would be misused to “loot” the voting rights of people, especially supporters of Opposition parties. (Representational)

Months before Tripura heads into Assembly elections, the Opposition has flagged a curious phenomenon: the presence of a large number of motorcycles in the state bearing Uttar Pradesh number plates. Other Opposition parties, including the Congress and Trinamool Congress, too, have raised concerns over the ‘Bike Bahini’ or the ‘motorcycle force’.

“….it is fervently requested to order for an impartial inquiry with competent authority to ascertain who procured these bikes and for what purpose and whether those were transported to Tripura legally. In the event (that) the finding of the inquiry reveals any malafide intention, these must be confiscated immediately,” Chaudhury wrote.

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Ahead of the 2018 Assembly election, the BJP had distributed hundreds of bikes among its workers or vistaraks to be used in poll campaigns. Some of these bikes had been retained after the elections, and now, with the election buzz building up, the party has brought in more motorcycles.

While the CPI(M) claims these bikes are used to terrorise Opposition workers and supporters, the BJP has squarely denied the charges.

In his letter, Chaudhury also said that all elections held during the BJP-IPFT rule in the state, including the local body elections as well as the 2019 Parliament elections and subsequent by-elections to the Assembly, were reduced to “complete mockery” using the “bike-ridden terror-mongers” in the state. “The rule of law has been replaced by the rule of the jungle. Thus the bikes have appeared before the peace-loving people of the state as their misfortune,” he wrote.

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The BJP has hit back at the allegations, insisting that it’s no crime to ride a motorcycle that’s registered in another state and that the vehicles are legal and properly documented.

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Speaking to The Indian Express, Tripura BJP spokesperson Nabendu Bhattacharya countered Chaudhury’s allegations, saying, “First of all, we don’t have a Bike Bahini. And secondly, even if we had one, what’s wrong as long as they are not involved in any illegal acts? All these motorcycles are registered and all the riders have valid driving licenses. The authorities can check if they want. What’s the CPI(M)’s problem? Is it illegal to ride a motorcycle that’s registered in another state?”

He further said, “How did Chaudhury know these bikes would be used for violence? Is he in possession of any information that we don’t know of? These are vehicles provided by us to our vistaraks, who campaign in different states across the country.”

Bhattacharya explained that his party’s ‘vistaraks’ are chosen centrally and are deputed for short-term work in poll-bound states.

“Sixty vistaraks of our party have already reached 60 Assembly constituencies in Tripura. We can’t expect them to cover the entire length of the constituency on foot. In some states, the vistaraks use bicycles and in a few others, they use cars. In the Northeast, there are a lot of hilly areas and bicycles can’t always be used. So, we chose motorcycles,” he said.

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A senior political watcher said that before the rise of the BJP in the state, the Congress, then the main Opposition party, would bring in four-wheelers for campaigning ahead of the elections. However, those were fewer in number and Tripura’s hilly terrains meant that these vehicles could only be used for major rallies and events, mostly in the plains.

“These two wheelers can be used by anyone with valid documents. But it’s true that over the last few years, there have been cases of hooligans using them to create panic. That’s how this term Bike Bahini came up,” he said.

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Two days ago, the Trinamool Youth Congress staged a protest in front of the Tripura Police headquarters stating that the police were passive about reining in BJP workers on motorcycles.

TMC MP and state joint in-charge Sushmita Dev said, “We have seen that few hundred motorcycles have been brought to Tripura with UP number plates. People could not cast their votes in the last civic elections, Opposition polling agents were thrown out and our leaders were assaulted. We have told the DGP in written statements that the police need to ensure safety and security of Opposition leaders and supporters. We want to know how many such bikes have come, under whose name were they bought and what is this preparation about.”

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Tapas Dey, leader of the local Tripura Democratic Front, said, “We will write a letter to the Chief Election Commissioner soon about this issue. We have come to know about it and we shall ask him to make sure that these are not used for any malafide intentions during the upcoming elections.”

Before next year’s Assembly elections, Tripura is scheduled to hold elections to 587 village committees of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) in November this year as per a directive of the High Court. The elections were supposed to be held a year ago but were delayed due to the pandemic.