UNION HOME Minister Amit Shah on Sunday appealed to the people of Tripura to vote for the “double-engine government of the BJP” to protect the state from “triple-trouble gathbandhan of the CPI(M), the Congress and the TIPRA Motha party”. Without taking any names from the Opposition camp, Shah said the CPI(M) didn’t do any development for tribals during its long regime of 25 years, but now it has “projected a tribal leader” as its Chief Minister face “to woo tribal voters”. “But they don’t know they would not get any votes this way,” he said. While there is no confirmation yet, CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury is being seen as a leading contender for the chief ministerial post in case the Left-Congress alliance comes to power in Tripura. The TIPRA Motha, led Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarma, is going solo in the election, contesting 42 of 60 seats in the Assembly. Addressing a rally at Chandipur in Tripura’s Unakoti district, the Home Minister said Tripura saw development only during the BJP rule, and before that “corruption, hooliganism, political violence were day-to-day affairs” in the state. Apart from listing out the developments made by the BJP-IPFT government in Tripura, much of Shah’s address was targeted at the Left-Congress partnership, which he said was a “proof of their weakness as they knew they could not take on the BJP alone”. “Communists killed many Congress supporters in the past. The two parties have still formed an alliance. They should be ashamed of themselves. Both these parties are the same. They don’t want development, they just want corruption,” Shah said, adding that if people wanted development, making BJP victorious was the only way. He reiterated his comments for TIPRA Motha, saying the party was trying to help the CPI(M)-Congress alliance from behind and said the BJP's 'double engine government' alone could get rid of the Opposition's “triple trouble gathbandhan” and work on development in the State. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise of HIRA ( Highways, Internet-ways, Railways and Airways) model of development would continue in Tripura if the BJP is voted to power. Shah later held a roadshow from Jogendranagar railway station to Agartala City Centre, covering a few Assembly constituency, including Town Bardowali, Agartala among others.
