Congratulations for your new responsibility. It seems the year 2018 is going to give a handful of defining moments for the BJP and the North-Eastern states. How do you see it?
In 2018, February, we are going to have elections in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland. And we are sure that the BJP will be in power in all these states. Again, in November, Mizoram will go to the polls. Hopefully by then, all the eight North-Eastern states will be ruled by BJP. All these things happen because of the inspiring leadership of our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. It is because of his love and affection towards North-East. Countless development activities are underway in the entire region. The Union Government has been doing a lot of work, mostly in expanding railways and national highways, in the
North-East for the last three years.
There is a vigorous Communist propaganda campaign for Manik Sarkar projecting him as a champion of the common man, a simple and corruption-free leader. Your comment?
The crimes against women is highest in Tripura. There is a sharp rise in incidents of unnatural deaths. In the last three months, four innocent girls, between 14 and 16, were raped and murdered. One of them was from the constituency of Manik Sarkar. He has not visited any of the victims’ family members. And not a single culprit has been arrested. In Tripura, there is no development. You cannot find a single college even in Manik Sarkar’s home constituency, Dhanpur. The situation is same in the adjacent constituencies also. In Dhanpur, only 16 per cent of the tribal students passed in the Matriculation examination. So there is no question of innocence. His government is involved in deep corruption. The CPM’s only instrument for political success is rape, violence and
murder; nothing else.
There is an alarming rise in the political violence in Tripura in the recent years. So many BJP workers have been murdered by the CPM cadres. What is the reason?
The state sponsored political violence is a big concern. Seven BJP workers were murdered in a span of one year. What is happening in Kerala has now been exposed by media. But the story of Tripura is yet to be told; it is not known to the people across the country. Wherever you have left government, you can see murder, rape and atrocities against women there. And there will be organised loot and massive
corruption too.
The CPM has created a strong cadre base in Tripura as they have been continuously ruling the state for more than two decades. Does it pose any challenge against BJP in the forthcoming elections?
The grassroot leaders of the CPM are either murderer or rapists. They are not leaders but goons. People are not going to tolerate it any more. The politics of violence, rape and intimidation may work in short term. But in long term, it will not help any political organisation. This so-called grassroot leadership is going to be the biggest burden for the CPM in the coming elections.
Tripura has been in news for increasing atrocities against journalists. Why are journalists being targeted?
In Tripura, we have recently lost two journalists. Whoever dares to write against the CPM is being targeted. You can see it only in Tripura that the party secretary of the CPM calls a press conference and openly abuses the newspapers and media. And they would stamp those journalists who try to expose the party as the BJP agents. They indirectly instigate their cadres to resort to violence against the media persons.
From the first hand experience, one can draw a conclusion that Tripura is one of the most backward states in India. But why does it not reflect in the official data?
The education and healthcare system are in very bad shape in Tripura. There is no road infrastructure or proper communication network. But in statistics everything is in a better position. If you go to the ground, you will realise that all such data are manipulated. There are statistics which counter the existing official version. For example, the state government showed their expenditure on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme as 98 to 100 per cent. But once
geo-tagging was implemented, their expenditure started falling. Now the state government has to give
explanations to the Union Government on many such expenditures. So once you put scientific documentation, you will get the correct statistics. Otherwise, all the government employees are recruited in the CPM period and they are bound to obey the party. So they manipulate.
If any development activities are going on in Tripura, they are the initiatives of the Union Government. Please explain.
We did not have railway till Agratala, but now we have. We did not have a Rajadhani Express from Agartala to Delhi, but today we have. You can see a massive expansion of National Highway here. And ONGC is developing a power project here in Agartala. All these are the initiatives of the Narendra Modi Government and the state government is doing nothing. Even the state government employees are given the salaries based on the report submitted on the basis of the Fourth Pay Commission. Today, all other state governments are implementing the Seventh Pay Commission. Last time, all the government employees were forced to pay Rs 4000 – Rs 10000 to the election fund of the CPM. In that way, they had collected almost 100 Crore rupees.
There is a widespread discontent against the CPM Government among the public. Are you confident that the BJP can convert this strong anti-incumbency as well as anti-CPM feeling into votes?
Yes, of course. In the last 20 years, the CPM was countered by Congress Party. Congress
compromised with the CPM on many occasions. They had formed a government at the Centre with the support of the CPM. In the Parliament, they worked together, they voted together. So the people thought that Congress was not a genuine opposition. Here the Congress was basically a B-team of the CPM. That is why the Congress could not gain the momentum here. In spite of that, 45 per cent of people voted for the Congress in the constituencies they contested in 2013. This time, Tripura is getting a genuine opposition to the CPM, that is the BJP. People know that the BJP’s stand towards CPM is zero compromise. And they also know that the BJP will bring a different model of development.
What is the BJP’s plan for Tripura?
Tripura has suffered immensely in the last 25 years. If you visit a hospital, you will not find a doctor there. If you go to schools in interiors, you will not find any teachers there as all the teachers have been transformed to Agartala city. There are no teachers left in tribal areas. The education system in Tripura, especially in tribal areas, is absolutely worse. In Government employment, jobs are given to the CPM cadres. Even the Supreme Court had to interfere in such a big corruption which hit the headlines at the national level. Recently, the Supreme Court has quashed the appointments of teachers by the CPM. Now we have to clean everything. We have to restore health, education and other basic amenities. We have to ensure drinking water to people of Tripura. We have to build roads and communication network. And more importantly, we have to build a system which believes in meritocracy. We are committed to do that.
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