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Journalism of Courage
With 35 rallies across the state, attended by among others its national president J P Nadda, the BJP on Friday stepped up its campaign to retain power in Tripura, pitching development and “end of violence in the state” as its poll planks.
Nadda, who joined a ‘Vijay Sankalp Yatra’ in Amarpur, Gomati district, focused his attack on the Left Front-Congress alliance, saying the regimes of both were marked by insurgency, political murders, violence and looting.
“Those who are fighting against us, who are they? What is this gathbandhan (alliance) for? This is to save their existence… We are fighting to take Tripura ahead in the country and the world. Our fight is for giving wings to youths, dignity to women, ushering in development, promoting trade and business and making Tripura the centre of tourism,” he said, asking the people to give “kaam (work)” to the BJP and “aaram (rest)” to the Opposition.
Apart from Nadda, BJP star campaigners who were part of the rallies in Tripura Friday were Union minister Smriti Irani, Union Minister of State Pratima Bhoumik (who is also contesting the polls), Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, West Bengal Opposition leader Suvendu Adhikari, Bengal BJP leader Dilip Ghosh, and MP and BJP Janajati Morcha chief Samir Oraon.
While the Left and Congress see a chance given that despite losing power in 2018, the CPI(M) alone had 42.22% vote share compared to the BJP’s 43.59%, the BJP is confident that there has been no erosion in its base. No Opposition party has performed well in polls held in the past five years in the state.
The BJP’s astonishing performance in 2018 was almost entirely on account of the Congress’s fall. While the BJP went up from less than 3% vote share and no Assembly seat in 2013, to 43.59% vote share and 36 seats in 2018, the Congress plunged from the 40-45% vote share it retained even during 25 years out of power under the Left, to a mere 1.79%.
Take the case of Amarpur. A Left bastion for several decades, it was among the seats won by the BJP in 2018, with its candidate a former Left Front leader, Ranjit Das. While Nadda’s two rallies in Tripura last month saw low turnouts and were a cause for some discomfort in the BJP, on Friday, Amarpur turned up in strength for the BJP chief. Also present in large numbers were people from adjoining Ampinagar and Karbook constituencies.
Nadda clearly took heart from the turnout, saying it showed that the people of Tripura have decided to vote for the BJP again.
The achievements he listed were mostly of the BJP government at the Centre, including 2 lakh Ujjwala gas connections in the state, 3.80 lakh houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, 6,314 Jal Jeevan Mission connections and 13 lakh Ayushman Bharat cards. Nadda credited the Modi government with “ushering in tribal development on the one hand” and “bringing insurgents to the mainstream” on the other.
“Tripura has proven in five years that this is not the old Tripura. It is now standing with new aspirations. Double engine government has changed the face and fate of Tripura,” Nadda said.
Chief Minister Manik Saha, who joined the Amarpur rally, gave the slogan “Ek Tripura, Shrestha Tripura (One Tripura, Best Tripura)”, saying it was only possible under a BJP government.
