Guwahati, Feb 7: Union minister and senior BJP leader Sarbananda Sonowal said that based on performance in the past five years, the saffron party would retain power in Tripura in the ensuing Assembly elections.
“Having won the goodwill of people, I am confident that the BJP will retain Tripura in the forthcoming elections as the people of the state continue to embark on the path of transformation through peace and development,” Sonowal said, while addressing a media conference in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Pitching for the incumbent BJP government in the state, the senior BJP leader said the party has always worked towards development for all sections of the society in the country. “The state of Tripura has also enjoyed peace and development along with the rest of India since 2018,” he said.
Northeast India, he said, has witnessed transformation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi since 2014.
“The focus of the Modi government to enable and empower the people of the region has helped them to become a force of reckoning today. The empowered region has now been recognised as the new engine of growth for India. This is a huge leap in less than a decade for a region that earlier struggled for minimum development, progress and peace under successive governments,” Sonowal claimed.
“People can witness the difference in what the region achieved in these nine years of the Modi government against decades of neglect, lack of opportunity, or respect, for decades under successive governments,” he said.
Espousing the good work done by the party in Tripura, the senior BJP leader said, “Tripura has also come out of this shadow of neglect, along with the rest of the Northeast, owing to the progressive steps undertaken by the Modi government. Under decades of misrule by the Congress, the Northeast suffered immensely as it lagged in development and lacked opportunities for its people. Due to policy paralysis of the Congress government, the region could not move into the right path of growth and development.”
“On the other hand, under Modi, policies like transformation via transportation, Act East Policy made tremendous impact in Tripura and the Northeast as transportation networks in rail, road, waterways, airways and information technology underwent a massive uplift, facilitating growth and development in the region. Both the CPM Congress ruled Tripura for more than 40 years but corruption, violence and drugs pulled back the region,” he said.
“Moreover, the feeling of alienation has now been replaced with a more inclusive narrative of nation building,” Sonowal said.
On the occasion, Sonowal also unveiled a report on the transformation of Tripura by the BJP-led government since assuming office. The report titled “Badlao Jo Hum Lekar Aaye” was prepared by the Public Policy Research Centre (PPRC).