CM rings warning bell to political hooligans
By Firstdespatch Desk Mar 27, 2023
Agartala, Mar 26(FD) In a warning bell to political hooligans, Tripura Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha Sunday said his government would make the state extortion-free, just like the previous BJP-led government worked to free the state from 'nasha' or addiction.
Speaking at a voluntary blood donation camp organized at Bardowali in the outskirts of Agartala city this afternoon, the CM appealed to people to come forward to join voluntary blood and organ donation and join in service to society.
In the sidelines of his address at the event, CM Dr. Saha said BJP alone can be seen working in the service of people and society throughout the year while other political parties have already gone back home after the elections. In a significant revelation, the Chief Minister said a section of BJP Karyakartas suffered from “bichyuti” or “deviations” and got influenced by other political parties and said the party would need to be “discussed” in the party.
His comments were in reference with BJP’s reduced vote share and seat strength in the state assembly as though it secured a single majority in the assembly, the victory came with 32 seats and38.97 percent vote share as opposed to 36 seats and 43.59 percent vote share in2018.“Our party is for 265 days, not for elections alone. We worked for the last 5 years. But it is saddening that our own people had mental deviations (during elections). We give lessons about our nationalist party in training camps that we think about our country alone. Why do such deviations still happen! It must be discussed why the mental balance of our Karyakartas deviated”, he said. Citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Man ki Baat’, the CM said BJP listens to actual Mann ki Baat or words of the heart and questioned why BJP Karyakartas would be influenced by parties claiming “aitasi” or “we are coming”, in an oblique reference to the opposition Left-Congress partnership which claimed before the recently concluded assembly elections that the opposition partnership was sure to come to power.“Supporters of those parties are listening to them, though they don’t work for the people. Why don't our people have that kind of stability? Why is our confidence level so low! We have to work ahead with faith. Elections will come and go but our Karyakartas must have a high confidence level”, the CM said. On a different issue, the Chief Minister said without naming anyone in particular that a section of people are thinking since they are in power, they can get away with doing anything and warned that the BJP-led government would not tolerate any sort of extortion and hooliganism.“We have got reports of extortion from different areas. Different parties had done the business of extortion all these days and it has gone inside many people. We shall not tolerate it in any way. The way we are thinking to make Nasha-Mukt Tripura, we shall also ensure that Tripura is made extortion-mukt”, the CM announced.
As part of his call for clean politics and clean society, the Chief Minister had also sounded terse caution against hooliganism and political extortions shortly after assuming office in 2022, when he replaced his predecessor in a surprise move in May, barely nine month before the assembly polls.CM Dr. Saha’s predecessor Biplab Kumar Deb had started an anti-drug movement shortly after the first BJP-led government came to power in the state in 2018 and announced ‘Nasha-Mukt Tripura’. Though a huge number of drugs are being nabbed every month in different parts of the state, the state government claims the seizures and recoveries are proof that the government’s call for ‘nasha-mukt Tripura’ is paying off and people are coming forward against drugs. Earlier in October last year, CM Dr. Saha said at the 70th North Eastern Council (NEC) plenary meeting at Guwahati that Tripura was being used as "corridor" for drug trafficking from Myanmar and Bangladesh and said stern steps were being taken to combat drugs. FD JK