Agartala, April 3 The opposition INDIA bloc in Tripura on Wednesday termed the BJP a “burden of the society” and claimed that people’s response to the campaigns ahead of the Lok Sabha elections suggests that the NDA will be rejected in the entire country in the upcoming polls.
Congress Working Committee (CWC) member and Tripura INDIA bloc co-convener, Sudip Roy Barman, said, "The response we have been receiving so far from the people is beyond our imagination. People want change in both the Lok Sabha constituencies in Tripura, along with the rest of the country, as they are dejected with this government."
Roy Barman, a seven-time MLA who had a brief stint as the Health Minister in the BJP government led by former Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb before returning to the Congress, also said that the BJP should disclose a progress report of their achievements as well as their visions for the future.
"Instead, they are diverting the attention of the masses, resorting to terror tactics by burning opposition's campaign materials, assaulting opposition party workers, jailing opposition party leaders, freezing Congress' bank accounts, and misusing the central agencies like the CBI, ED, Income Tax etc.," he alleged.
Roy Barman also said that democracy and the Constitution are in danger under BJP's rule, as he appealed to the Election Commission to ensure free and fair elections so that the people can exercise their mandate without any trouble.
Responding to the allegations levelled by the BJP against the Left-Congress alliance despite their bitter rivalry in the past, INDIA bloc co-convener Jitendra Chaudhury said: “When the Left was in power or when the Congress-led coalition governments were in power in Tripura, some clashes occurred and some people died which were unfortunate.
“They (BJP) are questioning how we are fighting together despite our past political rivalry. People, including Congress and CPI-M workers, were murdered in the past and we apologise for that. But they (BJP) are murdering democracy itself. Generations would be murdered if democracy is killed in the country.”
Chaudhury, currently the opposition leader in Tripura, also alleged that all the criminals of the past are in the BJP now.
The Left leader also said that the ideology of the CPI-M and the Congress are different, and will continue to be so.
However, he also said the Communist party has "no fundamental difference" with the Congress on the national perspective.
Chaudhury, who is also the CPI-M state Secretary, said that the Left parties and the Congress fought together for the country's Independence.
“But the Constitution is under attack now, the agencies are being misused, while the judiciary is also being meddled with. In the name of nationalism, they (BJP) are trying to erase the history of our country,” Chaudhury claimed.
As per the seat-sharing arrangement, the Congress has fielded its state unit chief Ashish Kumar Saha from the Tripura West Lok Sabha seat, while the CPI-M has nominated its former MLA from the Tripura East seat.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor