Agartala: Tripura Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha on Saturday said that the budgetary allocation for the tribal areas under the Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) saw a significant hike in the last financial year.
“For the fiscal year 2022-23, the allocation for Tribal Sub Plan was Rs 4,720 crore which in the last financial year increased to Rs 5,608 crore. The hike recorded here is 18.82 percent. These funds were spent in the tribal areas in addition to Rs 672 crore approved by the state government for the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC),” the Chief Minister said substantiating his claims of equitable development in both the tribal and non-tribal areas.
The Chief Minister was speaking at a party workers’ conference organized by the BJP’s tribal wing, Janajati Morcha organized at Agartala Town Hall.
“When I was a Rajya Sabha MP, I got the opportunity to speak at the upper house of the Darlong community of people. Then, I felt that I was one of the members of that community. This is our view towards the people of indigenous society. Our political philosophy also doesn’t teach us to discriminate among the masses based on religion, caste, and community. Repeated attempts were made to sow seeds of division between the communities that had been coexisting peacefully for years, but all efforts have been foiled by timely intervention,” Dr Saha added.
Slamming the Left-Congress combine, the Chief Ministers said, “This is an alliance of two dreaded forces; one is infamous for arson and planned political killings while the other is a party of all disruptive elements. Hundreds of Congress workers lost their lives at the hands of CPIM terror squads. When I asked three MLAs of the Congress party as to how they would respond to those who had lost their loved one due to political violence perpetrated by the CPIM, they maintained a conspicuous silence,” said Dr Saha.
Continuing the tirade against the Left, former CM and BJP candidate for West Tripura Biplab Kumar Deb said, “CPIM is a party that dominated the tribal areas for a long time. People of our Janjati community voted for the Left in consecutive elections but what they received in return. Their culture, identity, and heritage were never respected by the party which they supported.” Earlier, both the candidates of the party were felicitated at the party’s headquarters.
Kriti Singh Debbarman who had been fielded by the BJP from East Tripura constituency also spoke on the occasion and pitched for working cohesively for overall development.
TIPRA Motha Party founder Pradyot Kishore Debbarman also spoke on the occasion. Debbarman’s presence in a BJP’s internal meeting, however, raised many eyebrows.
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