The Tuesday Interview | CPI(M)-Congress will go out of people’s mind in Tripura, says Manik Saha

In May 2022, the BJP surprised Manik Saha when they made him the chief minister, replacing Biplab Kumar Deb, the party’s face since 2018 in Tripura. He was made CM despite not being an MLA. Since then, Saha, the dental surgeon-turned-politician, has become the BJP’s most important face in the state. Under Saha’s leadership, the party is gearing up for the Assembly elections on February 16.

Amid the rallies and social media campaigns, Saha, aged about 70, now visits houses not only in his constituency, Town Bardowali in Agartala, but also in the nearby constituencies. DH’s Sumir Karmakar caught up with Saha amid the morning door-to-door campaigns and talked about the elections, challenges, and his expectations.

Read | Rise and fall of regional parties in Tripura, 'experiment' for CPI-Congress combine

How confident are you about retaining power in Tripura like the BJP did in Assam, Manipur, and Gujarat recently?

I am 100% confident. With the blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we will win the elections again, and the BJP government will be formed for the second term.

Why do you think people of Tripura will again vote for the BJP?

For development. It is because of the development that Tripura saw in the past five years that people will again vote for us. During the long rule of the CPI (M) and Congress, Tripura was under the dark shadow of violence, insecurity and lack of development. In 2018, the BJP ended the darkness and brought prosperity.

This election is different from 2018. This time, the Left and the Congress are contesting against the BJP with a seat-sharing arrangement, which is a first in Tripura.

This is an unholy alliance. People have realised this and have learned to recognise their original faces. Tripura’s people suffered equally for 25 years under CPI-M rule and for a long time under Congress rule. More people will vote for the BJP this time as they don’t want the dark days of the CPI (M) and Congress to come back to Tripura. The CPI (M) and Congress will go out of people’s minds in Tripura, like they did in Bengal.

But what about Tipra Motha? Is Tipra Motha a challenge for the BJP?

No, not at all. They don’t know what Tipraland is or what its boundary is. They are trying to play with the emotions of the tribal voters to win elections. Even their manifesto does not mention the word “Greater Tipraland.”

Why did the BJP reject the demand for Tipraland?

Tripura is a small state. Is it possible to create another state? There is no question of Tipraland. We will never accept this; we have said this in the past too. Even our ally, IPFT (another tribal party), is still with us and is working on the Common Minimum Programme without the demand for Tipraland. The socio-economic development of the tribals is our priority. In the past five years, we have done a lot for the welfare of the tribals.

Tipra Motha says the BJP did not fulfil the promises made to IPFT ahead of the 2018 Assembly elections when they entered into an alliance.

We never promised a separate state to anyone, not even to IPFT. What we promised is welfare of the tribals. It is because of our development in the past five years that IPFT decided to be with us for this election too. We will definitely try to do more for our tribal brothers and sisters.

But IPFT lost the elections in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous Council in March 2021.

The council elections and the assembly elections are different. Since the IPFT is with us, people will look at the report card of the state government and the work we have done for the welfare of the tribals and vote for the BJP-IPFT government. We have never severed ties with an ally, and so we decided to retain the alliance with IPFT (giving it five seats).

You were made CM eight months ago. What have you done since then to entice people to vote for the BJP?

We have taken a lot of measures. The most important thing is that we have provided good governance and a corruption-free, transparent administration.
We ended the donation culture of the CPI (M) days.

But the CPI (M)-Congress are saying the BJP is destroying democracy in Tripura by attacking the opposition workers.

They have no moral right to make such baseless allegations. They kept Tripura under a reign of terror for so long. It was the BJP that brought peace to the state.

Will the BJP approach Tipra Motha for a post-poll alliance?

That situation will not arise. We will get more than 50 seats this time. There may be a political tsunami too. But it is certain that we will form our government without any support.