Correspondent
AGARTALA, March 27: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today unveiled its manifesto for the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) polls.
The manifesto offered 27 promises, including elevation of the tribal council to the status of Tipra Territorial Council (TTC) and setting up of 20 model villages.
The ruling party also promised that a separate recruitment rule for ADC would be framed, Khumulwng to be developed as a city, and one medical college will be set up in Dhalai district if it is voted to power in the council.
Unveiling the manifesto, BJP state president Dr Manik Saha appealed the voters to vote for the BJP-IPFT candidates to fast-track development in ADC areas. “The promises made in the manifesto will be fulfilled if the BJP-IPFT is voted to power. I hope the BJP-IPFT will form the government in Khumulwng,” he said.
Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma slammed Tipra Motha for working with the Opposition CPI(M) to defeat the BJP-IPFT candidates in the ADC elections. “We have heard that Tipraland State Party (TSP) has merged with Tipra Motha, a political platform for indigenous people. But what we are seeing on the ground is completely different with most of the Tipra Motha candidates either from the TSP or CPI(M). They are working against the BJP-IPFT to pave the way for the Communist in the ADC,” he said.
Referring to Tipra Motha’s slogan of ‘Thansa’ (unity), the Deputy Chief Minister said, “We are not against unity among the indigenous tribes. Renaming of Agartala Airport after Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur was a step in that direction.”
Dev Varma further said the BJP-IPFT government has already taken steps to empower the tribal council so that it could safeguard the interests of the indigenous people. “The State Cabinet has already proposed to the Centre to increase seats in TTAADC from 30 to 50 by amending the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. Besides, a process is already under way to transfer 42 departments to the ADC administration,” he said.
BJP vice presidents Tinku Roy and Rampada Jamatia were also present on the occasion.
