Agartala: Feb 14: After remaining silent for five years, opposition parties to the BJP have started raising slogans like “Chalo BJP Hatao” (Let’s remove BJP) just before elections, resulting in internal conflicts within parties. As the election results were announced, these parties began accusing each other. Former Chief Minister Manik Sarkar criticized this pattern, stating that the BJP cannot be defeated by such disorganized efforts. Speaking at a rally organized by left-wing parties on Friday at Shakuntala Road, he emphasized that the country and Tripura cannot be freed from the BJP by merely sitting silently and hoping for change.
The rally, organized by a coalition of the CPI(M), CPI, RSP, FB, and CPI(ML), was held against the anti-people and corporate-friendly central budget. Manik Sarkar condemned the government’s lack of action on issues like unemployment, reduced purchasing power, and rising prices of essential goods. He said that despite a decline in international fuel prices, the government continues to increase taxes and levies, thereby raising the prices of petrol and diesel, which directly affects transportation costs and, subsequently, the common people.
He also criticized the central government’s indifference to the public distribution system (PDS), which, according to him, is being deliberately weakened instead of strengthened. The Left Front’s demand is for the government to allocate funds in the central budget to ensure the strengthening of the PDS and to make 15 essential commodities available at affordable prices through government intervention.
Sarkar emphasized that the schemes launched in the last three to four years have not been updated with higher funding, failing to adequately support the people. The Left Front, therefore, will continue to protest and demand that the government increase the funds for these schemes and provide financial support for the welfare of the people.
Finally, Sarkar highlighted the need for the government to remove taxes and cess on fuel, as these costs are not being shared fairly with the states, further burdening the public. He warned that without a strong people’s movement, the government will continue to impose heavy burdens on the common people.
