AGARTALA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday assured full support to the new BJP government in Tripura saying the entire country was behind the state s march towards progress. In his address after the swearing-in ceremony of the first BJP government in Tripura PM Modi said the north-eastern region had many opportunities and potentials which had to be explored for its development. I appeal to the people of Tripura let s take the state to a new height so that we can change the lives of the people. I want to assure that in Tripura s march towards development the central government will provide full cooperation with the motto of cooperative federalism he said at the event held at the Assam Rifles ground here. Earlier Biplab Kumar Deb took oath as chief minister Jishnu Deb Burman as deputy chief minister along with seven other ministers including Indigenous People s Front of Tripura (IPFT) chief N C Debbarma. The first BJP government in the state assumed charge after bringing the curtains down on the 25-year Left Front rule. The prime minister said the new government would take along every citizen and all sections of the society and work for the development of Tripura. There would be no discrimination between those who voted for us and those who did not vote for us. This government will serve both. You just wait for some time to see the change in Tripura he said. Modi added that the government s motto would be development good governance people s participation and Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas . I have visited the north-east many times as prime minister and I want to tell you that India is with the north-east India understands the issues of the north-east and every Indian stands by the people of the north-east he said. The swearing-in ceremony was also attended by BJP chief Amit Shah Union home minister Rajnath Singh senior BJP leaders Lal Krishna Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. Shah wished success to Deb and his cabinet colleagues and said the new government would live up to the expectations of the people. Tripura will be turned into a model state. The people here have been waiting for this moment for a long time he said while claiming that the north-eastern states were witnessing a fast-paced development ever since the Modi government assumed office. Chief ministers of BJP-ruled states -- Vijay Rupani (Gujarat) Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Madhya Pradesh) Sarbananda Sonowal (Assam) and Raghubar Das (Jharkhand) also attended the function. Manik Sarkar of the CPI(M) who was the chief minister of Tripura for 20 years before the BJP-IPFT combine unseated his government in the February 18 Assembly polls was also present at the swearing-in ceremony.
BJP general secretary Ram Madhav has dismissed allegations that Tripura witnessed incidents of vandalism following the party s landslide victory in the assembly election. In an interview to ET he said the party had nothing to do with the pulling down of communist icon Vladimir Lenin s statues in the state. Unfortunately however he said some well-meaning people too fell prey to what was entirely a propaganda of the defeated CPI (M) to hide its failures. Edited excerpts: How do you see the BJP s big wins in the Northeast? How much credit would you give to the RSS which has been working in the region for many years now?In the last four years we have been able to capture power in six out of seven north-eastern states. Except in Mizoram today we have BJP-led or BJP participant government in all of them. This has happened primarily because people there did not have an alternative earlier. Now the BJP is seen by people in the Northeast as an alternative. Our focus has been on development. PM Modi is seen as a man focused on development. Also the Congress has had negligible presence in states such as Tripura or Nagaland. These states have been dominated by regional politics and in the case of Tripura it had a left government for 25 years. Besides the PM s focus on development the cadre s hard work and proper strategising helped. The core of our activity has come from the Sangh and Sangh Parivar organisations be it ABVP Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram or Vivekananda Kendra they have been working in this region for the last three decades. They have built a very sound constituency for India. The physical distance that used to lead to alienation was removed by their efforts. We built our political constituency on this India s constituency. That way their contribution has been very significant. How do you look at the defacing of Lenin s statues in Tripura and allegations of subsequent incidents of vandalism?The allegation that there was vandalism in Tripura is utter falsehood. There was no vandalism at all. It was a statue put up by some people who were once influenced by communism. It was not a CPM or municipality installation. The same group of private individuals decided to bring down the statue on their own. They hired a JCB machine. They pulled it down. Some people standing around cheered for it. Where is the question of vandalism here or of the BJP s involvement? There is no news of this in Tripura media. It is entirely a CPM propaganda in Delhi because the party has been solidly thrashed in Tripura and hence is raking up this issue and playing the victim card to hide its failures. Unfortunately some well-meaning people too have fallen prey to this propaganda. This is in fact a conspiracy to defame Tripura. CPM has said that 543 of its cadre members have been injured by RSS folks in Tripura. I challenge them to show at least one person in any hospital. Nobody has been attacked. On the contrary 11 of our karyakartas (workers) are still in hospital after the election violence. I completely disagree with the statement that Tripura is facing any kind of unrest. The state is absolutely peaceful. Show me one state in the country where minor instances of violence do not take place. Having said that we in BJP do not believe in violence or vandalism. We have told our party workers not to indulge in any kind of violence and we have also told them about this propaganda that is going on. Soon after the Tripura incident Periyar s statue was torched in Tamil Nadu I agree that is vandalism. It is a mob going and destroying public property. But historically it is the CPI-CPM cadre who have vandalised statues. They have been vandalising public and private property wherever they are. The Congress has accused the BJP of destabilising the Northeast in its quest for power There is no question of destabilising the region because every move taken by us to form the government has been an accepted democratic step. And we are providing stable governance in all these states. The Congress on the other hand centred its entire campaign in Meghalaya on communal slogans. They tried to invoke the Christian sentiment to vilify BJP and gain political mileage. They indulged in religion based politics. How would you respond to Congress leaders who said that the party should have been invited to form the government since it won the largest number of seats?In Meghalaya the Congress went to the governor with 21 MLAs actually it was only 20 as the CM contested from two seats. The Constitution says the governor should be reasonably satisfied that you enjoy majority. Now with 20 you cannot do that. But the National People s Party (NPP) that secured 19 one seat less presented the support of 34 MLAs. Naturally the governor felt convinced where the support was. In a fractured house the governor has to be convinced that is important. It is a Supreme Court mandate that majority has to be proved on the floor of the house but to call a party to form the government the governor should be reasonably convinced. Hence what the governor did in Meghalaya was completely justified because 34 MLAs gave it in writing that they supported a certain party. In Nagaland the BJP has emerged as the kingmaker. How do you see your party s alliance with the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) working out?The Naga People s Front (NPF) and NDPP are regional parties in Nagaland but NDPP is a by-product of NPF. Mr (Neiphiu) Rio has been a senior and important leader in NPF who left to form his own party because of internal politics. We were aligned with the NPF since 2003. We ran an alliance government in Nagaland since 2013 and that was an NPF-led government which was also led by Rio. After elections Rio became an MP and TR Zeliang took over as CM. Our alliance continued. Before elections we wanted a certain number of seats under the seat-sharing formula. NPF was willing to give us seats so we approached the NDPP led by Rio. We had an understanding between us NDPP contested 40 and we got 20. And in the elections together we secured 30 seats. And we secured the support of four other legislators two from NPP one independent and one from JD (U). Right now we have a strength of 34. NPF secured 26 seats. As a pre-poll alliance we have 30 seats. Naturally we have the first right to form the government. Hence the governor has given us the opportunity and we are forming the government. The details of the Naga peace accord have never been revealed. Do you foresee an amicable solution in the near future?One of the main agenda items during the election campaign was to tell the people of Nagaland that an agreement that was being worked out between the representatives of the government of India and the Naga underground groups would be safe-landed by our government in Nagaland. We are committed to implementing the Naga accord in true spirit. We are hoping that the agreement is arrived at very soon. That is in the central government s domain the PM has assured that the agreement reaches its conclusion very soon and once it happens it will be safely implemented here by our government. How do you view the TDP s decision to pull out its ministers from the central government?We are committed to the development of the new state Andhra Pradesh that was carved out five years ago. Both the BJP and Congress had committed to the development of people. We have done a lot for Andhra Pradesh in the past three years and everything that is there in the state formation agreement will be fulfilled by the government of India. There are certain challenges that the finance minister has articulated but that doesn t mean we are less serious about the development of AP. We are as serious about the growth of Andhra Pradesh as the CM Chandrababu Naidu is. Will talks with the TDP continue despite its ministers resigning?Of course. From our side we know full well that the TDP is an old ally and we hope to continue this relationship. From your experience of handling places such as Kashmir to the states in the Northeast how would you explain the BJP managing to get a foothold in regions where it has not been strong organisationally?It is true that the areas I handle are difficult. The party s organisation is not strong in these areas. So it is always meticulous work first deciding what will work in the state and strategising around it. Our one slogan in Tripura Chalo Paltai (Let s change) became a household slogan. To sell the idea of change also required strategy tactical moves understanding of timing extensive backroom work. Apart from that we knew our alliance with the Indigenous People s Front of Tripura (IPFT) would have some political cost. But we calculated the benefit and the cost. In the cost-benefit analysis we saw the benefit overtake the costs. The CPM tried to show this alliance as anti-Tripura but we convinced the IPFT to agree to issue a statement that it was committed to a united Tripura. This blunted the CPM campaign.
Agartala: Two statues of Lenin pulled down in two south Tripura towns 50 km away Belonia and Sabroom set off a string of statue vandalism this week across the country amid concern that the tit-for-tat could get out of hand. This was one of the reasons for the Home Ministry to scramble into action and send out two advisories within a gap of hours to nudge states to deal sternly with such vandals.Back in the tiny town of Belonia near Tripura s border with Bangladesh NDTV tried to sift through the many versions of the 11-feet tall fibre glass statute being toppled over to figure what had happened.The CPM which ruled the state for 25 years and its arch-rival in Bengal the Trinamool Congress had blamed the BJP for the incident.Tripura BJP spokesperson Mrinal Kanti Deb in turn had blamed CPM cadres. They are all underground cadres of the CPM. Those who did this should be strictly punished he said this week according to news agency Press Trust of India.That version has changed.Arun Chandra Bhowmik Belonia s newly-elected legislator from the BJP says he wasn t there when the incident took place. Our local leaders had taken out a victory rally and after they rally when others went home some people who might be fringe elements had reacted this way he told NDTV.Not fringe elements says CPM but planned message sent out with bulldozer.Jitendra Chaudhury the CPM s Lok Sabha member from East Tripura said the video was taken by a BJP supporter and proudly uploaded on social media and the entire world saw what they did. They chanted Bharat Mata ki Jai... like it was during fall of Berlin Wall. Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy also tweeted in support of pulling down Lenin s statue; Ram Madhav tweeted hailing the act then deleted it.But Ram Madhav - a BJP strategist also seen as the architect of the party s victory in Tripura that PM Modi has hailed as epoch-making one - suggested that the Lenin statute was erected by private people not by the municipal body or the government . That is why no complaint registered by either. CPM too didn t register any complaint. Discarding communism those who erected it themselves decided to remove it Ram Madhav tweeted a post that was seen to be an explanation for razing the statute to the ground.Belonia s administrative heads insisted that Ram Madhav had probably not been correctly informed. This is a public property. This was constructed by municipal council constructed from government funds... The municipal council has gave Intimation to police and then case was registered CK Jamatia South Tripura Collector told NDTV.The district s police chief Ipper Monchak said the police had immediately arrested the driver and seized the excavator. CommentsBJP supporters in Belonia hint that they were only following in the footsteps of the Left parties that had been in power for more than two decades. In 1993 the Left came and till 2018 it has been 25 years When they came to power they broke several offices of Congress broke statues of ex-prime minister Indira and Rajiv Gandhi said Raju Nath the BJP s district secretary.
The past is big business in Indian politics. While one party swears by the past for legitimacy another hounds and vilifies that very past to consolidate its present. It is raucous and violent when Indians confront their past. This is more so in the context of the memory and monuments. A vast country with layers of ideological religious and cultural attributes it is often difficult to have a narrative of the past that is appreciated and appropriated by all. Vendetta politics This has often led to what one might describe as exercise in vendetta politics. This is evident in bashing one ideology over the other or one community over the other. Hence India experiences regular doses of communal riots. At times inanimate objects like statues and monuments become objects of derision hatred and destruction. File photo of Lenin s statue before it was toppled in Tripura s Belonia town on 6 March. Twitter/@cpimspeak As a rule of thumb religious monuments have always been in the eye of vendetta politics. Each of India s multi-religious communities has at one time or the other experienced some kind of attack against its places of worship. If the Hindu monuments were desecrated and destroyed in the past some Islamic and Christian monuments have come under attack by the Hindus in recent years. The most famous case of this vandalism goes back to the year 1992. On 6 December 1992 a violent Hindu mob pulled down the disputed Babri mosque in the northern Indian city of Ayodhya. To many this undertaking was an attempt to rewrite the country s history from the majority community s worldview. Those who defended it called it an act of historical balance . Past is another country Fortunately these enterprises and occasions remain infrequent. Violence has not always been the leitmotif to address the vestiges of the past. Very often political pundits and policymakers in India think that the easiest way to change the past is to rename it. Every time there is change of guard in the national or the provincial capital a name-change exercise gets underway. While some undertakings like the replacing of Bombay with Mumbai Madras with Chennai or Bangalore with Bengaluru have been relatively cosmetic and peaceful this has set off a dangerous precedent. When a group or the masses feel that renaming parts of the country s past is an entitlement it sets alarm bells ringing. Moreover this political vocation can become a liability. We have been witness to a dangerous development in recent days across India. When the nationalist BJP won a convincing victory over the Communists who controlled the North East state of Tripura among other things the celebrations led to the immediate bulldozing of two statues of Vladimir Lenin. When questioned about this move a section of the party that assumed power defended it as an exercise in redressing the past . The state s governor went on record by suggesting that such things are inevitable. For what one democratically elected government can do another democratically elected government can undo. And vice versa . The sands of history In India where memory is ideologically driven there were copycat acts of vandalism targeting the busts of leaders and ideologues (who stood for a specific narrative) in other parts of the country. A stern warning from the country s prime minister has so far kept an uneasy truce on this monument massacre project. Meanwhile another battle is taking place in the Indian media the intellectuals defending or criticising the right to destroy the busts statues or monuments. While the Left cries foul on the bulldozing and toppling of its ideologue Lenin s statue the Right has defended its position by stressing that it is at best an exercise in selective amnesia. The Right argues the Left shall do well by remembering its own acts of vandalism and destruction orchestrated in the 1960s and 1970s in West Bengal when it routinely disfigured the statues of Mahatma Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda . Meanwhile every community and every ideology is trying to outweigh the other through its own tailor-made memory monument building initiative. While the BJP is trying to put its stamp on the national topography by renaming roads and instituting busts of its ideologues derided as unpatriotic and Nazi-sympathisers in the past others are fast catching up. The marginalised Dalits meanwhile have not left any vital physical space under their control empty where they could instal the statues and busts of their prophets BS Ambedkar or the Buddha. All these monument-builders and destroyers in contemporary India would do well to pay a visit to New Delhi s Coronation Pillar Grounds. Scattered on the ground are unloved unadorned and abandoned slowly rotting statues of former British strongmen who built their greatest empire in India. Once towering on high marble pedestals these were dislodged and dumped in such unceremonious burial sites across the country. Lest we forget history is unforgiving especially to those who wish to control it. The author is senior lecturer Department of Politics Philosophy and Religion Lancaster University UK
NAGPUR: On a day when the BJP assumed power in Tripura its ideological mentor the RSS said the mega Hindu congregation organised by it in the northeastern state last year was inspirational and effective in every sense . Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) General Secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi while presenting the RSS annual report at its crucial triennial meeting which began today specifically mentioned the Hindu Sammelan organised in Tripura by the organisation in September last year. The Hindu Sammelans organised in the northeastern states especially in Tripura was inspirational in much ways the Sangh said in its annual report which was read out by Joshi in the presence of RSS workers. Sharing the details about the event which was organised in Agartala on September 17 2017 the RSS said preparations for it had started in June last year. A plan to contact each every tribal group was prepared. The invitations were delivered personally. Each house was hoisted with a saffron flag and consequently one lakh households could be reached the report said adding that it was effective in every sense . This mega hindu congregation was addressed by the Sarsanghchalak (RSS chief) Mohan Bhagwat and lakhs of people from more than 500 villages from Tripura and other districts of nearby northeastern states attended the event. The admiration expressed by eminent personalities from social religious industrial fields indicates the growing acceptability of our work the Sangh said. Biplab Kumar Deb today took oath as the chief minister of the first BJP government in Tripura ending the 25-year rule of the Left Front. Governor Tathagata Roy administered the oath of office to Deb at a function which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah.
KOLKATA: BJP leader-turned-Governor Tathagata Roy seems to attract flak rather frequently as a BJP leader his remarks would often put the party in a spot. Now as Governor of Tripura some of his Twitter posts are being seen as inappropriate from a person holding that office. For critics who said controversial comments do not suit a governor Roy had a sharp response Holding a constitutional post does not require one to be speech- and hearing-challenged. If somebody thinks that being a governor in a democratic country means that I have to be deaf and mute I am not obliged to follow any such opinion he told ET in an exclusive interview. In his Twitter profile Roy describes himself as a Right-wing socio-political thinker and writer . He has close to 1 lakh followers. He has been vocal on several communal incidents in West Bengal and seldom hesitated to criticise Mamata Banerjee s government and her Trinamool Congress. Despite criticism from all corners the governor did not give in. He said his tweets are just a statement of facts and that he does not want to claim responsibility for how they are construed. From a constitutional post one cannot take political sides. My tweets do not have political bias. I have not supported any political party and only drawn attention to certain provisions of law Constitution and Indian Penal Code. I have presented certain facts. People read too much between the lines and I cannot help it said Roy. Following a series of incidents of demolishing and desecrating statues of Left- and Right-wing icons across states Roy s tweets appeared as unconventional from a governor. What one democratically-elected government can do another democratically-elected government can undo. And vice versa. This was the first tweet from Roy after some people pulled down Communist icon Lenin s statue in Tripura on March 5. It triggered a controversy and there were reports of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh asking the Tripura Governor to control the law and order situation in the area. Roy however said he did not receive any instruction from the Centre in this regard. The Governor has received no such written communication from the Union home minister he tweeted the same day. I am advised that pulling down statues (Lenin s or anyone else s) unless done by lawfully empowered authorities qualify as mischief under Indian Penal Code. They are bailable and non-cognizable offences. Trying to blow them up to something like rioting or murder is unwarranted. His tweet on March 6 was widely read as a justification for the vandalism. Fundamental questions are coming up. We removed George V from India Gate New Delhi Queen Victoria from front of her memorial in Kolkata renamed Aurangzeb Road all by government fiats. What if the government similarly decides to remove Lenin s statue rename Lenin Sarani? Any answers? he tweeted. Roy was appointed governor in 2015. Some of his opinions considered as extreme by political observers have made headlines times. He is known as a Modi bhakt in politics and supported all policies taken by the Modi government. On the Rohingya issue he tweeted Myanmarese have more sense than our leaders of 1940s. They realise that the Rohingiyas can demand a partition-they re taking care of that. Even though there has been strong criticism of Roy s comments he never fails to fuel controversies.
Agartala: The Left Front leaders will boycott the swearing-in of the BJP-led government spearheaded by Biplab Kumar Deb on Friday to protest large-scale violence in Tripura after the Assembly elections Left leaders said on Thursday.However outgoing Chief Minister Manik Sarkar and elected leaders of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) will attend the ceremony where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah would be present.Left Front Convenor Bijan Dhar said that since the declaration of Assembly election results on Saturday around 400 offices of the Left parties and frontal organisations were attacked 85 party offices burnt down 315 offices of various Left parties and frontal organisations were forcibly occupied http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/user/2406265-kkflipkart/ 1 704 houses belonging to Left members and supporters attacked and around 200 houses set on fire. Left front said that 400 of its offices were attacked after election results were announced in TripuraHe claimed that 290 shops owned by Left members and supporters were burnt down 10 rubber gardens destroyed over 600 Left members and supporters assaulted badly 10 vehicles damaged. This had forced thousands of persons to take refuge elsewhere in the state.A Left Front delegation led by CPM Central Committee member Gautam Das on Thursday met Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sriram Taranikanti and demanded deferment of polls in Charilam constituency (Reserved-Tribal) where election could not be held on February 18 after the death of Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) candidate.The Left leaders claimed that there is no conducive environment to hold polls in Charilam in western Tripura.Mr Das said the CPM delegation submitted a detailed account of what he called a reign of terror unleashed by the workers of BJP and its ally IPFT (Indigenous People s Front of Tripura). More than 11 permanent party offices and two district committee offices of CPM and RSP (Revolutionary Socialist Party) were burnt down many trade union offices forcibly occupied in Charilam area and CPI-M candidate Palash Debbarma fled from the area to save his life Mr Das later told the media.He said around 60 CPM leaders houses were attacked and 19 party leaders physically assaulted by BJP-IPFT workers whereas all 40 booth offices of CPM in Charilam have been burnt down.Mr Das said several thousand Left Front members and workers had been forcibly evicted from Charilam segment. CommentsTripura s erstwhile royal family s scion Jishnu Debbarma who has been named the Deputy Chief Minister in the new government is the BJP nominee from Charilam. We urge the administration and the BJP leadership to take adequate measures to stop these post-poll violence immediately said Mr Dhar a CPM central committee member.
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