The Left stands tall in its last post Tripura as the state goes to polls on February 14. Few will, perhaps, dispute that Tripura, one of the best-governed states, has seen unprecedented development over the last few years under the Left Front government, which has been in power since 1993.
What makes the growth story interesting is that the state is land-locked and industrialisation is yet to take place here. Development, peace and chief minister Manik Sarkar’s clean image are the factors that are likely to work in favour of the Left Front yet again.
As the polls draw near, the Congress party’ clamour for change has only got louder. But the party has hardly any issue to take to the people, not even corruption. “Corruption begins at the top and that’s where we’re extra vigilant. We don’t hide anything and deal with any cases of corruption very firmly,” the chief minister said.
For the record, the whole of Tripura has no beggars. If some of them now reap the benefits of employment guarantee schemes of central and state governments, others eke out a living by working at construction sites. “We all have self-respect. So, if jobs are aplenty, why would people beg?” the chief minister said. “If the shops in Agartala are well-stocked, it is because the purchasing power of people has increased,” he said to buttress his claim further.
Ninety-year-old Sarbat Ali Mian, a resident of UNC Nagar on the zero line along the India-Bangladesh border, has never seen the chief minister in person. But he believes there is no alternative to Sarkar. “He has changed the face of Tripura and we must admit this,” he told DNA as panchayat member Fatima Bibi nodded her head in agreement. What is good to see is that even the last household on the border has been electrified.
Link to Delhi
Sonamura (West Tripura): Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday urged the people of Left-ruled Tripura to vote for the party in the assembly polls for a ‘direct relation’ between Delhi and the state for its development.
“There is a government between Delhi and people of Tripura which eat up all the money for development. We want to set up a direct relation between the people of Tripura and Delhi, which is possible if you bring in the Congress at the helm of affairs here,” he told an election rally here.
For the Congress, people are the first priority and then the party, while for the CPI-M, the party is their priority and people are secondary, he said. —PTI
