Agartala: CPI(M) leader and four times chief minister of Tripura, Manik Sarkar on Wednesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his comments against the erstwhile Left Front government and said the BJP-led ‘double engine’ government has fallen flat with “punctured tyres”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday while inaugurating the second terminal building of Maharaja Bir Bikram (MBB) Airport, had attacked the previous governments in Tripura, claiming corruption and backwardness was rife in the state till the BJP came to power and asserting “the state has now turned into an important trade corridor now.
Sarkar however tried to take credit for the airport modernization, stating that his Left Front government which ruled till 2018 had “first sent the proposal for modernizing the airport and arranged additional land and relocated 33 families with proper compensation. Works for new terminal building started in our tenure. Now PM says it (the Left Front government) was a laggard.” “What does he think of himself?” a visibly angry Sarkar said.
Modi had on Tuesday said the double-engine government (BJP government at Delhi and Tripura) are developing the state through the ‘HIRA’ (highways, Internet, railways and airways) model.” He said, broad-gauge train services reached Tripura after a prolonged movement demanding it. He also pointed out that ambitious railway projects like Agartala-Akhaura rail connectivity with Bangladesh started during the Left regime.
Sarkar also claimed that work on the third Internet gateway of India through Chittagong in Bangladesh had started in Tripura during the Left Front’s rule and the former UPA government, of which the Left Front was a partner for four years, sanctioned multiple National Highways.
He said Modi’s comments were abrupt and concocted” and claimed they were designed to damage people’s movement for railways, airports and other connectivity projects.
Prime Minister’s claim of good governance and accountability of the Biplab Deb-led BJP government in Tripura is a farce’ and there are allegations of rampant corruptions within the government, he claimed.
Sarkar, who is also the politburo member of CPI-M said, PM and his party did not have any role in the freedom struggle of India and claimed the BJP’s political predecessors were British agents who backstabbed freedom fighters’.
I replied to his comments and if he has the courage he can counter me , Sarkar said.