Left Front Releases Poll Manifesto

AIMING to better match the achievements with the people’s aspirations, the Left Front of Tripura launched its poll manifesto on January 22 afternoon, with an emphasis on specific programmes of public welfare. Left Front convenor Baidyanath Majumder released the manifesto at a press conference held at the CPI(M) state headquarters on the day. He was accompanied by CPI(M) Central Committee member Bijan Dhar and state secretariat member Gautam Das, along with Brajagopal Roy of the Forward Bloc, Dipak Deb of the RSP and Prasanta Kapali of the CPI. It is known that the Left Front has announced its nominees for all the 60 assembly seats, with the CPI(M), CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc contesting 55, 2, 2 and 1 seat respectively.

Releasing the Left front manifesto, Majumder said that in case a fifth Left Front government is formed in the state, it will give a massive momentum to the implementation of pro-people policies and programmes, initiated by the fourth Left Front government, in the teeth of tremendous hurdles. In this context, he referred to the consistently anti-people activities of the Congress party for decades, both in the heyday of its power in the state and at the centre, and during the tenures of the four Left Front governments of Tripura. He recalled how the Congress party’s ouster from power has led it to unashamedly enter a direct alliance with terrorists and extremists.

The Left Front manifesto said in this regard that the people of Tripura have eagerly been looking forward to establishing yet another Left Front government in Tripura. They want an acceleration to the Left Front’s ongoing drive to implement its government’s programmes towards attainment of a prosperous Tripura. But this requires a strong rebuff to the vested interests’ ceaseless conspiracies against the state and the nation. These very conspiracies have now reached a new culmination in the blatant bonding of the Congress party, that played havoc with the state people’s life and progress for decades, with the INPT that serves as the political mask of NLFT extremists.

While explaining the Left front’s poll manifesto, Majumder said the next Left Front government would take further the work done by the fourth Left Front government towards a self-reliant economy in the state. Its emphasis will be on a vibrant and self-sufficient agriculture, development and improvement of livestock, development of small and medium scale industry, on employment generation, welfare of backward communities, expansion of communication systems, electricity, housing, drinking water, education and healthcare, etc.

Giving specific statistics of the spectacular success achieved by the fourth Left Front government of Tripura, the Left Front convenor and CPI(M) state secretary referred to the 14.85 per cent rise in the state’s per capita income and 14.95 per cent rise in its gross domestic product (GDP) between the period from 1998 to 2000. These figures are, respectively, about 2 per cent and 3 per cent above the national average. Even the National Development Council and the North Eastern Council have highly acclaimed the proper utilisation of the plan outlet by the fourth Left Front government of Tripura. This is in sharp contrast to the abject failure of the Congress-led north-eastern states in this respect, Majumder pointed out. He also added that the percentage of people below poverty line has come down to nearly 67 per cent at present from 73 per cent at the time the fourth Left Front took over. Quoting statistics, he said the state has taken spectacular strides in respect of extension of electricity supply and expansion of education in remote areas and among backward communities, since the first Left Front government assumed office in 1978.

The Left Front’s poll manifesto also pledged that the fourth Left Front government’s endeavor to upgrade the standard of living in Tripura to the national level will be carried forward with speed. To this end, there will be a special thrust on areas like poverty alleviation and welfare of backward communities, on making the most of industrial prospects, safeguarding the interest of working class including employees and teachers, securing and expanding women’s rights, assistance to social service projects, development of tourism, panchayats, municipalities, cooperative and legal assistance, strengthening of financial management, public security, employment generation and taking administration closer to people. Majumder said the next Left Front government would go on mounting pressure on the centre for acceptance of all the urgent demands of the state like setting up a medical college, widening the Assam-Agartala national highway to four lanes and assistance in combating the insurgency in Tripura.