Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said development of the tribal areas in Tripura is a priority for the BJP, and asserted that all issues of the community have been taken care of in the “historic agreement” signed with Tipra Motha, a party which joined the state government last month.
Measures for harmony between communities and the development of the state have been ensured in the agreement, he said, accusing the CPI(M)-led Left Front of spreading misinformation.
Addressing an election rally in Kumarghat, Shah alleged the Congress and CPI(M) which had ruled the state for several years tried to belittle the contribution of the erstwhile ‘Maharaja’ of the state, Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya.
“It was PM Narendra Modi who gave due respect to Maharaja Bir Bikram by naming the Agartala airport after him, and installing his statue,” he said.
Shah claimed that the Congress and the Left never allowed anyone from the tribal community to hold a higher position in government.
“PM Modi, for the first time, honoured tribals by giving India a president from the community,” he said.
“Before 2014, the budget for the Ministry of Tribal Affairs was Rs 24,000 crore. Under PM Modi, it increased to Rs 1,25,000 crore,” he added.
Shah said a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) was being set up in Sabroom at a cost of Rs 1,550 crore, and it will attract investments and create employment opportunities for the people of the state.
Attacking the CPI(M), he claimed that the communists handed over guns to the youths, while PM Modi provided them with laptops.
“It is PM Modi who facilitated more than 10 accords in the Northeast, and paved the way for 10,000 youths to return to the mainstream,” he said.
Listing the development initiatives undertaken by the BJP-led government at the Centre, Shah said Tripura got Rs 40,183 crore during 10 years of the UPA’s rule, and during PM Modi’s tenure, it got Rs 98,000 crore.
The union minister said the 40,000-odd Bru tribe people, who had fled their homeland Mizoram following ethnic violence in the late 1990s, were resettled in 2022 in Tripura after living there for years in penury.
He noted that under the Modi government’s leadership, efforts were made to establish well-equipped villages to improve their living conditions.
The Union home minister criticized the communists for allegedly instigating conflict among the people of Tripura and failing to foster development in the state.
