Tripura Showed Red Card To Left Front To Elect BJP's Double-Engine Govt: PM Modi

Lashing out at the previous Left Front government, PM Modi said that the BJP had freed the people of Tripura from the previous dispensation'schaos.

Ahead of the Tripura elections next month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that the BJP government had pulled the state out of chaos and brought peace.

Lashing out at the previous Left Front government, PM Modi said: "People of Tripura can never forget the chaotic days when Left Front cadres had taken hostage of every aspect of life. We brought peace and established the rule of law in Tripura. It's evident by the way all parties' flags are seen amid the election campaign... unlike earlier times when there used to be only one party here, now multiple flags are seen."

"The people of Tripura have removed the 'red signal' and elected a 'double-engine government' My happiness doubled seeing support for double engine govt (of BJP) in Tripura," PM Modi said while addressing a public meeting in Agartala.

He said that the voters of Tripura had put an end to extortion culture. "The youth and women of Tripura have shown the red card to 'chanda' and 'jhanda'. During Left Front regime, rampant killings were reported in Tripura. BJP govt brought peace," PM Modi said.

"Leaders of the Left Front government thought of themselves as kings and treated the people as servants. Now, there is no family in Tripura that hasn't received the benefits of BJP's policies," he said.

Since it received statehood in 1971, Tripura has had either a Left Front or a Congress government, with the exception of a breakaway faction of the Indian National Congress and the Janata Party successively coming to power briefly between April and September, 1977. 

The Congress and the Left Front had been the chief contenders for power in the state until the 2018 elections, when the Bharatiya Janata Party made history and emerged as the single-largest party in the 60-seat assembly. The BJP won 36 seats and formed the government with Biplab Kumar Deb at the helm. Deb resigned as the CM, making way for another BJP MLA Manik Saha. 

The Congress and the Left Front have a pre-poll agreement this year. As per the arrangement, CPI(M) has fielded 43 candidates, whereas the Congress had to be content with just 13 seats. CPI, RSP, FB, and the independent have been given one seat each. The Left Front is fielding as many as 24 new candidates. Besides, the CPI(M) has dropped eight sitting MLAs this time. The BJP will contest all 60 seats.

Elections to the Tripura Assembly will be held on February 16. The last date for filing nominations is January 30.