Congress spokesperson Ajit Jogi said today the CPM-led government was bowing to political compulsions and was allowing law and order situation to slide to an alarming situation. ``The law and order situation is critical and alarming in the CPM-ruled state of Tripura. Incidents of killings, arson, murder, rape and political annihilation are continually on the rise,'' he added.

The thrust of what Jogi said today forms a strong critique of the CPM's performance in Tripura where the Congress is the main opposition party. When the Congress ruled the state in the past, the CPM had made similar strong allegations against the Congress government and now the Congress is returning the favour.

The strong anti-CPMline espoused by the Congress thus reflects the continuing tension in the Congress-CPM relationship which took a slightly new turn in recent times after both spoke in friendly terms of each other. The Congress took the first step in its September Pachmarhi brainstorming camp where it took a pro-Left stance on its economic policy and identified the BJP as its main opponent.

This was followed by the CPI and the CPM declaring issue-based support to a Congress-led government at the Centre and listing the Bharatiya Janata Party as their main enemy, in their respective party congresses in Chennai and Calcutta. However, nothing between the Left and the Congress is simple. Both like to revel in the complexity of their relations and are now happy that the BJP has become the main target.

Thus, at one level, today's stringent criticism of the CPM must be taken as just a reflection of party compulsions while the overall tune at the Centre will still be one of friends. However, for Tripura, the Congress had strongwords.

Added Jogi: ``A reign of terror has been let loose by a handful of insurgents in the state. Last month, during Budget session, the state government had admitted that there were only 505 identified insurgents and to tackle them, 45 battalions were available from the state police, BSF, Assam Rifles, CRPF, the Army and Special Armed Corps. Even then, the state is asking the Centre for more forces and the Centre is blaming the state government.

``We recognise that the Centre neither has the will nor the capacity to do anything in this regard and the state government has political compulsions to connive in terrorist activity. The immediate provocation are polls to the panchayats and ADCs. The state government wants the reign of terror to continue in the hilly tracts so that tribal supporters of the Congress, TUJS and other parties are displaced. This will then aid in bogus voting for the CPM,'' the Congress spokesperson alleged.

Jogi quoted statistics to show that, on an average, there were twokillings and three kidnappings a day in September. The Congress has demanded that the whole of Tripura be declared a ``disturbed state'' and brought under the Disturbed Areas Act. Also, the Congress has said the army and paramilitary forces should be given a ``free hand'' to deal with the law and order situation in the state.

Almost as an afterthought, when asked specifically, Jogi said the Congress was ``equally worried'' about the deteriorating law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra (particularly Mumbai), Rajasthan and Delhi, all BJP-ruled states.