Tags:
Journalism of Courage
After Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Tripura that the “double-engine governments” had accelerated growth in the Northeast state, the Opposition has termed his speech as “old wine in a new bottle” and alleged that his visit, paid for with taxpayer money, was turned into a BJP event.
“It was declared as a public programme. Nearly Rs 20 crore was spent from the exchequer. People were forced to come to the ground. We believe that the PM’s so-called government programme was a flop. The people of Tripura will show them the red card in the coming days,” senior Congress leader Sudip Roy Barman Roy Barman told reporters on Monday, adding that the people who had expected Modi to announce new programmes were frustrated. The Congress MLA also said Modi was claiming credit for launching projects that were initiated by the Congress-led UPA government.
The Opposition CPM also claimed that crores of rupees of public funds had been spent for the prime minister’s visit on Dec 18, which lasted only a few hours. “It is a misfortune for the state. The central and state governments led by PM Modi and his party have tried to fool people once again,” CPM state secretary Jitendra Chaudhary said late on Dec 18, hours after Modi visited Agartala.
He alleged that with elections around the corner, the BJP paralysed the state administration and pushed people into utter crisis. People waited for Modi to make new announcements because he had come barely two months ahead of Assembly elections, but the prime minister simply made an address with no announcements, he said, adding that he should have explained the failure to fulfil the promises made before the 2018 polls.
CPM politburo member Brinda Karat told the media that Modi had lectured about Indian democracy at a G20 meet but in reality, voters in the state were not allowed to exercise their rights in panchayat, Parliament or Assembly bypolls under the BJP’s watch.
The party-affiliated All India Democratic Women’s Association took out a rally and alleged many BJP leaders were involved in crimes against women and that the “double-engine government” had failed to do anything for the women. Karat questioned why “86 women were raped on average in India under Modi’s watch daily”. She criticised Union Home Minister Amit Shah for “bulldozing people’s houses but not giving the same punishment to rapists”.
Trinamool Congress president Pijush Kanti Biswas said the people had waited to hear something new from Modi but in vain. “It is all old wine in a new bottle. He could not announce anything new for the state and spoke about old things again and again to confuse the people. They have become frustrated,” he said. “Public money meant for people’s welfare was spent on party activities yesterday while the poor are starving.”
Having realised that it cannot form the next government, the Trinamool leader alleged, the BJP is trying to influence people. Beneficiaries of government schemes being threatened that their benefits would be stopped if they did not attend the rally, he further alleged.
“There is no word on the high inflation, 9 lakh-plus unemployed youths, MGNREGA, the 10,323 retrenched teachers or the Seventh Pay Commission. If the BJP thinks people can be influenced by the PM, it’s wrong,” he said.
Biswas also alleged that tribals had boycotted Modi’s rally to express their discontent.
During his visit, Modi said the BJP-led governments across India had adopted the politics of peace and development and that Tripura had started walking along the same path in 2018. He inaugurated two educational institutions including the state’s first dental college, apart from handing over Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana houses to over 2 lakh beneficiaries and laying foundation stones for several road projects.
