Amit Shah arrives in Tripura to further BJP’s oust-Left mission
AGARTALA: BJP president Amit Shah blew the election bugle in Agartala on Saturday, underlining the party’s mission to overcome a Left Front hurdle before a ‘Congress-free’ Northeast.
Shah is in Tripura on a two-day visit to prepare the party’s victory plan in the assembly election scheduled next year. His tour concludes on Sunday with a ‘parivartan sankalp rally’ at Kumarghat, about 150km from Agartala.
Tripura is the only Left-ruled state among four in the Northeast where state elections are to be held in 2018. Congress rules Mizoram and leads a coalition government in Meghalaya, while Naga People’s Front, a BJP ally, is in control of Nagaland. Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur are already in the BJP’s kitty.
Shah’s visit, part of his 95-day nationwide tour for expanding the BJP’s footprint, began with a 5km road show from the airport.
The BJP president said conquering Tripura is one of his party’s top priorities. “Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP has formed governments in Haryana, Maharashtra and in the Northeast. Our next target in the region is Tripura,” he said.
Manik Sarkar’s Left Front government in the state, he said, has done little besides indulging in corruption, organising political attacks and facilitating infiltration of Bangladeshis in more than two decades of rule. “The Congress era is coming to an end. I believe people of Tripura are yearning for a change and want BJP as the alternative to communist rule,” Shah said.