Tripura’s Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Jitendra Choudhury, claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, himself, dropped broad hints about the BJP’s ‘inevitable defeat’ in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections while campaigning in the state.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the veteran CPI(M) leader claimed that PM Modi’s ‘deliberate’ shifting of the campaign discourse from development planks to more polarising subjects of “mutton, Mughal and Mangal Sutra” was a broad signal that the BJP-led NDA at the Centre was staring at defeat in the ongoing seven-phased elections.

Gunning for the Congress over its alleged promise of a nationwide wealth X-ray and redistribution if voted back at the Centre, PM Modi said earlier that the grand old party would look in safes and lockers for valuables and assets that people hold, including mangal sutras (pendant necklaces), and snatch them away in the name of wealth redistribution.

“One only has to follow the PM’s campaign speeches closely to get a sense of where the ongoing elections are going. His discourse on the campaign trail made everything clear to me. After initially harping on the Ram Mandir, Amrit Kaal, Viksit Bharat, and Atma Nirbhar Bharat in his campaign speeches, he switched over to more polarising subjects such as mutton, Mughlai and mangal sutra as his development planks failed to find resonance with the people. All their slogans have been drowned out now and other issues have taken centre stage. His changing campaign rhetoric tells me that a change of guard at the Centre is on the cards and PM Modi will soon have to bid goodbye to his post,” Choudhury, the senior CPI(M) leader, who heads the party’s state unit, told reporters on Thursday.

He said the Opposition bloc–INDIA–represents the strength of the people belonging to diverse communities across the country and the alliance has inspired hopes for change.

Claiming that the BJP was a ‘sinking ship’, the CPI(M) leader said PM Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have been invoking Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) and Afghanistan in a desperate bid for Hindu vote consolidation amid the general elections.

“On the evidence of some of their campaign speeches, one doubts if the elections are being held in India at all. They are making an all-out effort to save their sinking ship but I don’t see any hope of survival,” the Left leader added.

Coming out in opposition to the state government’s efforts towards implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the Northeast state, Choudhury said, “We are seeing how the illegal immigration of Bangladeshis and Rohingyas is taking a heavy toll on the state machinery and law enforcement. Tripura has already experienced multiple waves of migration in the past. Those who were in the majority earlier have become minorities on their own turf. Considering these circumstances and the evolving challenges arising out of migration, the government must think twice before implementing the CAA in the state. If the INDIA bloc is elected, this legislation would be revoked on priority.”

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