Agartala, Jan 4 (PTI) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Sunday urged voters to support the BJP in the upcoming elections to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) for peace and development.
The 30-member tribal council, currently ruled by the Tipra Motha Party (TMP), is scheduled to go to the polls in March.
Addressing a BJP programme at Barmura in Khowai district, Saha said development and peace had gained momentum in the state after the BJP came to power.
“Tripura has secured the second position in GSDP and per capita income among the northeastern states, while NITI Aayog has declared it a front-runner state. If you want peace and development to continue, vote for the BJP in the TTAADC elections,” he said.
Accusing the communists for engineering ethnic riots in 1980, he said around 3,000 tribal and non -tribal people had become victims of the ethnic flare-up.
“They had created outlawed groups such as National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) and All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) to carry out bloodshed (during late 90’s) but the BJP has managed to bring them back to the national mainstream by signing peace agreements”, he said.
Without naming Tipra Motha Party (TMP), the chief minister lashed out at its ally for attempting to issue diktat to the BJP on certain issues.
“Those who are now vocal about thansa (unity) were forced to remain mute spectators during the communist regime. We want the alliance to continue, but the behaviour should be that of a younger brother, not a big brother,” he said.
The CM said, “The BJP will never allow a force whom it has created to meddle in our domain. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah too will not allow”.
Saha said the government would welcome any indigenous script for the mother tongue of most tribal communities.
“I have already stated in the Assembly that the government favours maintaining the status quo on the Kokborok script, meaning students can write in both Bengali and Roman scripts. I have found that only a few students at class 10 and 12 levels opt for the Roman script,” he said.
Recently, TMP supremo Pradyot Kishore Manikya Debbarama strongly advocated that Roman script should be introduced for Kokborok language respecting the sentiment of indigenous people. PTI PS MNB
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