Agartala: Biplab Kumar Deb, former Chief Minister and incumbent Rajya Sabha MP, said on Saturday that the CPI(M) had misplaced confidence in its rank and files, which the Bharatiya Janata Party shattered in 2018.
“The CPI(M) thought it would stay in power for 100 years. But, the people of the state taught them a lesson in the last elections,” Deb said.
“The voters of the state are conscious politically and this is why the political parties that have no future have been rejected by the people of the state,” he said.
Deb was speaking at a party meeting organized in the Hrishyamukh area under the South Tripura district.
He also claimed that the Congress and CPIM are “two sides of the same coin,” and that the BJP’s entry into the scene changed the political landscape because people saw a glimmer of hope in Prime Minister Narendra Modi who drew an end to 25 years long Left rule. He said the former CM Manik Sarkar thought his party – CPI(M) – would stay in power for 100 years because there was no opposition.
Deb added that, unlike the previous Left Front government, the BJP does not discriminate among beneficiaries based on political colour.
“The CPIM rallied people behind it for benefits. The BJP did not ask for such favour from voters. Before demanding anything, Maitri Setu has been completed, SEZ has been sanctioned, the social pension has been increased to Rs 2,000, and a number of development projects are in the pipeline. No one has to attend the BJP party rally to get these benefits,” Deb said.
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Besides the party event, Deb also inaugurated a scholarship program in memory of senior journalist Pranab Sarkar’s mother Lilabati Debi.
The MP has also announced that he would contribute Rs 1 lakh to the newly constituted trust for the scholarship.
In the first phase, seven girl children were sponsored by the trust for education.
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