AGARTALA: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday Virtually kicked off the BJP's campaign for next year's assembly election in Tripura, claiming that the state had suffered a lot under CPI(M) rule for 25 years, and it became peaceful only after the saffron party came to power.
He said if the BJP is voted to power again, the party will make Tripura the number one state in the country.
On the occasion of International Women's Day on Tuesday, Shah announced that 33 per cent of government jobs in Tripura will be reserved for women.
"For 25 years, Tripura had suffered a lot under communist rule. Today, under the PM (Narendra) Modi and CM Biplab deb, Tripura is known for peace and progress," he said while addressing a rally here to mark the fourth anniversary of the BJP-IPFT government in the state.
The BJP-IPFT coalition came to power in March 2018 by dethroning the CPI(M) which had ruled the state for 25-years.
"In Tripura, earlier there were talks of extremism, infiltration, bandh and corruption. Today, Modi-Ji has taken Tripura and the entire North East forward in every field and gave the region the name - Ashta Lakshmi (eight forms of the goddess of wealth)," Shah said.
The NE region comprises eight states.
The senior BJP leader claimed that Tripura was earlier plagued by violence, corruption and drug trade, but it is moving towards becoming self-reliant today.
"I have come to meet you all after four years. Elections would be held after one year and I would appeal to you to give us a chance for one more term and I promise we would make Tripura the number one in the country in terms of development in the next five years," he said.
The Union home minister claimed that there has been a 30 per cent dip in heinous crimes in Tripura, and the conviction rate has increased to 53 per cent from 5 per cent.
Shah asserted that farmers' earnings have doubled under the present government, and the per capita income has increased to Rs 1.3 lakh.
"Each farmer is now receiving Rs 6000 annually and Rs 400 crore has been spent for this purpose," he said at the rally.
The PM-KISAN scheme aims to boost farmers' income by providing them Rs 6,000 per year in three equal instalments.
"Agartala has been connected with the rest of the country through rail. A total of 542 km of national highways have been built by spending Rs 7000 crore," Shah said.
He said that the ruling dispensation will fulfill all promises made in the manifesto, and he will return to Tripura to seek votes.
"I am sure the state can prosper, develop and get free from drug menace under the leadership of the Biplab Kumar Deb, who is driving the state to be self-reliant", he said.
Shah said that the Modi government has been working to protect national security.
"There was a time when the country used to witness terrorist attacks every now and then. But the surgical strike and Balakot air strike have sent a strong message to the world about the might of the country," he said.
The Union Minister also criticised Congress for protecting Article 370 of the Constitution giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir for 70 years.
"Sonia-ji and Manmohan-ji had protected Article 370 as a child for 70 years but the special constitutional provision was scrapped on August 5, 2019, after Modi-ji assumed office for the second time," he said.
Praising the Biplab Kumar Deb government, Shah said it has worked hard to create infrastructure for the past four years.
"Tripura has celebrated its 50th statehood day recently. Out of those 50 years, the Communists had ruled the state for 25 years but development was largely ignored during their regime," he added.