Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday attacked allies Left Front and Congress and said they have a “secret” alliance with Tipra Motha for the February 16 Tripura assembly polls while cautioning that votes for any of these parties will lead to the return of communists “reign of violence”.
“If you vote for Tipra Motha, it will go to the communists. If you vote for Congress, it will also go to the communists. If you vote for any of them, communists will form the government,” Shah said at a rally at Santirbazar.
He sought votes for the BJP’s return to power and promised to make Tripura the most developed state of the northeast over the next five years. “You have seen the government of communists and Congress. We promised change [in 2018]. We shall work to make Tripura the most developed state in the region.”
Shah urged the people to keep faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and assured development for the tribals.
Pradyot Kishore Debbarma of Tripura’s erstwhile royal family founded Tipra Motha to represent the state’s indigenous tribal population.
Tipra Motha is fighting the polls on the main plank of carving out a separate Greater Tipraland state from Tripura. In the run-up to the polls, there have been growing calls from the state’s tribal leaders for the bifurcation of Tripura, where Bengalis accounted for 65.73% of the population as per the 2011 census.
Tipra Motha decided to contest the polls on its after it failed to get any assurances from Shah over its core demand for a separate state. It ignored the Left’s appeals for joining its alliance saying there will be no tie-up without written backing for the demand.
Tipra Motha won the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) polls in 2021. Nearly 70% of the state’s tribal population is concentrated in the area under the council’s jurisdiction.
Debbarma rejected Shah’s claim about the secret alliance saying they cannot be a B team of the communists. “We defeated the communists in TTAADC. Perhaps he [Shah] is unhappy as we did not ally with them. In reality, BJP sees us as the biggest challenger.”
Shah claimed the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M)-led Left Front did not do any development over its around two-decade-long rule in Tripura. Shah said the BJP provided drinking water connections to 400000 houses whereas the number was only 24,000 during the CPI(M)’s rule.
He said the number of primary health centres went up from 73 to 118 under the BJP’s rule. Shah said the BJP government provided homes to 250000 people. He added they also permanently resettlement over 37,000 Bru migrants in Tripura.
Shah the BJP, which came to power in the state for the first time in 2018, ended problems such as infiltration, drug trafficking, and road blockades and provided drinking water, roads, industries, organic farming, and rights to tribal women.
“The BJP replaced the cadre rule with constitutional rule and ended fear, extortion, etc, prevalent under CPI(M)’s rule.” He added the BJP has taken Tripura, which borders Bangladesh, towards progress through highways, i-ways, railways, and airways as per Modi’s promise in 2018.
“The demography of the state is changing due to infiltration. Only the BJP can stop this. We can stop violence, and infiltration and bring development, education, employment, and peace. I appeal to you to campaign for the BJP in your villages and bring us to power again.”
