People of Tripura will give a befitting reply to the BJP, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said
In Tripura, a state ruled by the Left for over 24 years, elections are only six months away. This week, the BJP went from having zero legislators in the state to becoming the main opposition party when six Trinamool Congress MLAs switched over to the BJP. The party claims soon a Congress legislator will follow suit.
Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, who is in his fourth consecutive term, claims that BJP's surge would turn the early 2018 assembly polls into a Right versus Left straight fight, but he and his party would ensure that the BJP's election winning dream run in the country would end in Tripura.
"The existence of Left Front government here is due to class and mass struggle. I am sure in the coming days whatever they have been saying will fall flat because BJP is a government of corporate houses, the government had been hijacked in the name of Niti Aayog. All the agents of corporate houses are in Niti Aayog," Mr Sarkar told NDTV in an exclusive interview.
Mr Sarkar is known for his clean image and being the poorest chief minister in the country. And he has challenged the BJP leadership to face him and his party in the 2018 assembly polls.
"Tripura is solid land of Left and democratic forces. People here want peace, development and are not conservative. They believe that if the nation progresses so will small sates like Tripura. And the people will here give a befitting reply to the BJP by once again strengthening the Left forces. People here will show the rest of the country a new beginning again the communal forces let by RSS," Mr Sarkar said to NDTV.
The chief minister said he also felt that the NDA government at centre is trying to cripple the Non-NDA party ruled states through the Niti Aayog.
"The Modi Government is pursuing the neo liberal policy vigorously that there by peasants, workers are under threat of livelihood, there is growth of religious fundamentalism and Dalits are under attack, we will not allow all these in left ruled states" Mr Sarkar added.
Manik Sarkar also claimed that the BJP is propagating misinformation across the country through paid media.
"They have started to mislead people through media but if only by misleading a change can happen, it would have happened earlier" he said.
The BJP has been making steady efforts to gain a foothold in Tripura, one of three north east states where assembly elections will be held next year. The other two are Meghalaya and Nagaland; the BJP has said it is in position to throw out the Congress in Meghalaya. In Nagaland, the party supports TR Zeliang's Naga People's Front government.