Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha has called Trinamool Congress a carbon copy of the CPIM, which ruled Bengal for 34 years in a row.

 Speaking at a public meeting in Belonia, under South Tripura district, on Friday, Saha said, “Wherever the Communist Party ruled, their remnants could be traced. The people of Bengal trusted Trinamool and voted for them. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a gross mistake. The people of the state invited governance, which is a carbon copy of that of CPIM. In the last assembly elections, the BJP won 18 seats, but this time our party is set for far better results.”

 Saha also slammed the opposition CPIM for ‘shedding tears for democracy’.

“My friends from the left have a complaint for the BJP. They accuse our party of being against democracy. I want to tell the voters to go and read the constitution of the communist party. It was quite clearly written on that document that the communists wanted to establish a dictatorship led by the proletariat. They were taught the real definition of democracy by none other than Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Manik Saha said.

 “One shouldn’t forget the dark days of emergency when all opposition leaders were jailed,” the Chief Minister recounted.

Citing instances of the 2023 assembly elections and subsequent by-polls, he said, “The by-elections to Boxanagar indicated that minority voters were with us. We managed a lead of 30,000 votes, which is a historic achievement for the BJP. At Dhanpur, the BJP could manage a victory with a lead of 3,500 votes in the assembly polls after many decades, and in the by-election, the margin took an unprecedented leap of 18,000 votes. These figures speak volumes of the BJP’s grip on the ground.”

Alleging that ‘Scientific Rigging’ was the hallmark of CPIM politics in Tripura, the Chief Minister said, “In the previous elections, we heard enough about scientific rigging being carried out by the CPIM cadres. But, in 2023, for the first time, the state administration could conduct an incident-free poll. There was no major violence during the polls. This is how democracy works, and we have shown the ideal way of protecting democratic practices.”

 During the meeting, the former Congress MLA from Belonia, Dilip Muhuri, was also welcomed by the BJP.

Muhuri is a strong political figure in Belonia who had served for a considerable period of his life for the Congress party. He was denied a ticket in the last assembly polls because of the pre-poll understanding between Congress and CPIM.

 The general elections are scheduled to be held in two phases in the state. The West Tripura seat will go to the polls on April 19, while the East Tripura seat will witness voting on April 26.