Saying his government was working to develop northeast India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that Tripura remained backward due to 25 years of Left "misrule".
"The BJP government at the Centre is working with all sincerity for all round progress of northeast India. But Tripura remained backward and people of the state remained underdeveloped due to misrule of Left parties for the past 25 years," he told an election rally here.
Sonamura is located around 50 km south-west of Agartala.
He said the Vajpayee government had set up the Development of North Eastern Region Ministry to develop the region. His government also gave top priority to develop the infrastructure of the region and to improve the lives of the people.
Modi said a Rs 1,300 crore National Bamboo Mission had been launched to utilise the huge bamboo resources in the northeast.
Chief Minister Manik Sarkar's Dhanpur Assembly constituency falls in the Sonamura Sub-Division.
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Giving the slogan "Cholo Paltai" (Go for Change), the Prime Minister urged the people to vote the BJP to power to transform Tripura.
"Voting for BJP's lotus symbol will be a punishment for the Left Front government in the February 18 Assembly elections as during its 25 years of misrule people did not get anything, poverty went up and backwardness widened."
Criticizing Sarkar, Modi said: "under his (Sarkar's) white kurta there is a dark side. His government cheated people by giving poor wages when the people of other parts of the country got higher wages and the government employees got higher salaries.
"In the past 25 years, the Left parties hypnotized the people. People could not understand how backward they are. Now the time has come to change the future of the state and the fortune of the people."
Modi went on: "Out of every Rs 100 spent in Tripura, the central government is giving Rs 80. The Manik Sarkar government is unable to spend Central money properly. The Left government is also looting the money of the poor.
"If the Left government is allowed to govern (further), there will be no development in the state."
The Prime Minister said that if the BJP took power in the state, corruption will end.
"People are committing suicide in Tripura. Youths are not getting jobs... The time has come to throw away the Left parties.
--IANS
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