Tripura polls battle between double engine versus 'triple Apad': Amit Shah

Agartala, Feb 12 (IANS) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that the February 16 Tripura Assembly elections is a battle between double engine versus triple "Apad" (trouble-makers) -- Left parties-Congress and the Tipra Motha Party.

He claimed that the Congress and Left regimes were full of corruption and violence and if any one voted for them, the three 'Apad' would facilitate the return of corruption, violence and "cadre raj" in Tripura.

Addressing election rallies in Chandipur in northern Tripura and Charilam in western Tripura, he said that "Cadre Raj" has dominated during the 25 years rule of the Left.

"The CPI-M forged alliance with Congress means they conceded defeat to the BJP. The Left party realised that they could not defeat the BJP. During the Left government, hundreds of Congress workers were murdered. Despite this, the Congress forged an alliance with the Left," Shah said.

The Communists have finished from the entire world and the Congress finished from the country, he claimed.

Without naming CPI-M state Secretary Jitendra Chowdhury, Shah claimed that the Left betrayed and deprived tribals for a long time in Tripura and now projecting a tribal leader as the chief ministerial face in the elections to "dupe" people.

Chowdhury, a CPI-M Central Committee member, is contesting the elections from the Sabroom constituency in southern Tripura.

Shah claimed there are so many corruption cases in Left and Congress regimes in various sectors and added that there is not a single case of corruption in the five-year rule of BJP in Tripura.

"Drug peddling and its extreme menace were at the peak of the Left regime and the BJP, after coming to power in 2018 launched a war against drugs to make Tripura a drugs drug-free state," he said.

Promising two gas cylinders to every poor household, he said that the saffron party-led government has already provided piped water connections, electricity and provided concrete houses to lakhs of families and these welfare activities would be stepped up after the BJP retained power for the second time.

"Modiji has restored peace in Tripura by signing an agreement with the NLFT (National Liberation Front of Tripura) militant outfit. Providing settlement to the 37,000 displaced Reang tribals, the 26 years old uncertainty of these tribal communities was resolved," Shah said.

"By 2025, every eligible family would get a house under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and 50,000 college girls will get scooties, Rs 200 crore would be invested in the tea and rubber industry, farmers would get Rs 8000 per month and every tea worker's family would be allotted two Ganda (1,728 sq.ft.) land," he added.

Shah also participated in a roadshow at Pratapgarh on the outskirts of the capital city on Sunday.

During the last three days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, BJP National President J.P. Nadda, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Sarbananda Sonowal, Kiran Rijiju, Arjun Munda and many other party leaders and MPs have addressed over two dozens of election rallies across Tripura.

The Prime Minister is likely to address another election rally in Agartala on February 13, a day before the end of the campaign for the February 16 Assembly polls.