Tripura remained backward during Left rule, BJP brought development: Shah

Addressing a public meeting here after visiting a village where displaced Bru tribals were rehabilitated, Shah said that Tripura remained behind on all parameters of development during communist rule

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday hit out at Left parties for turning Tripura into a "backward" state during their 35-year rule and said it could witness progress only after the BJP assumed power in 2018.

Addressing a public meeting here after visiting a village where displaced Bru tribals were rehabilitated, Shah said that Tripura remained behind on all parameters of development during the communist rule but is now moving forward on the path of progress.

"For 35 years, the communists ruled Tripura. The communists claimed that they worked for the welfare of the poor. The Congress also ruled Tripura for a considerable time. But the people of the state always remained poor. It was when the BJP came to power that Tripura could witness development," he said.

 

Shah said when he visited Tripura in 2017 as BJP president and stayed for five days, only 11 people took party membership. "Gradually we started our work. We worked hard and could oust the communists from power" after toiling for years, he said.

The home minister said during the Left rule, just 2.5 per cent of the people used to get piped drinking water and now 85 per cent get potable water.

Under the communist rule, there was no free foodgrains for the poor but now each person gets 5 kg rice and everyone is getting free treatment of up to Rs 5 lakh, he said.

Shah said investments have come to Tripura and people are getting free power and LPG connections.

Now the school drop rate is less than 3 per cent while enrolment is 99 per cent, But during the Left rule it was very poor, he said.

"Tripura is now peaceful following the signing of peace accords with insurgents. With the blessings of Maa Tripurasunderi, Tripura will be one of the most developed states in the country. Today, I am getting immense happiness," he said.

Referring to the settlement of Bru refugees, the home minister said the BJP governments at the Centre and the state decided to rehabilitate 40,000 displaced people.

"The Brus were living in sub-human conditions. But the Left government never took any action to improve their condition. Now we are addressing it and already 11 villages have been set up while one more is in the works," he said.

Shah said the Brus are now getting all the freedoms enjoyed by any other Indian citizen.

They now have an Aadhar card, they are enrolled in the voter list, they have ration cards and all these were ensured by the Modi government, he said  He said the rehabilitated people were given Rs 1.5 lakh for the construction of their houses, Rs 4 lakh as fixed deposits and Rs 5000 for 24 months as monthly expresses.

Bru migrants from three districts of Mizoram -- Mamit, Lunglei and Kolasib districts -- came to North Tripura district in 1997, 1998 and 2009 due to serious ethnic violence in Mizoram between Bru and Mizo communities.

The Bru tribals were rehabilitated following a quadripartite agreement signed on January 16, 2020.

The pact was signed among the governments of India, Tripura, Mizoram and representatives of Bru organisations for the permanent rehabilitation of Bru migrants in Tripura, officials said.

While about 70 per cent of the Bru (Reang) tribals are Hindu, the remaining are Christians.

A total of 12 locations have been identified in Tripura for establishing resettlement colonies of Bru tribals, out of which nine locations are in forest land and three on government land.

These 12 selected locations are in four districts in Tripura -- North Tripura, Dhalai, Gomati and South Tripura. A total of 754 acres of land has been made available to resettle these families.