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Monday, Feb 04, 2008
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Karat: Congress encouraging extremists in Tripura

Sushanta Talukdar

Accuses Congress of adopting double standard on insurgency problem
Expresses hope that people will foil “evil designs” of Congress and INPT

Agartala: Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Prakash Karat on Sunday accused the Congress of encouraging extremist forces in Tripura by forging an “unholy” electoral alliance with the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT), which he described as a “mask of extremists.”

“The Congress is one party which encourages extremists. When Rajiv Gandhi was Prime Minister, he encouraged extremist forces in Tripura to destabilise the Left Front government. In the last Assembly elections we saw the Congress forging an alliance with the INPT. We told the Congress leaders that what their party is doing in Tripura is detrimental not only to Tripura but also to the entire country. The INPT is not an ordinary political party. It is backed by extremist forces and it is only a mask of extremists. We are not worried. We are sure that the people of Tripura will defeat the Congress-INPT alliance,” said Mr. Karat while addressing a State level election rally here organised by the ruling Left Front of the CPI(M), the CPI and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP).

Mr. Karat urged the voters of Tripura to re-elect the Left Front for another term with a resounding victory, in the interest of unity among tribals and non-tribals, for consolidating on the growth achieved by the government in agriculture and other sectors and to defeat the “evil designs” of extremist and reactionary forces to stall the progress of the State.

He accused the Congress of adopting “double standard” on the insurgency problem and added that while the Congress leaders justified imposition of President’s Rule in Nagaland on grounds of containing insurgents, the party entered into an “opportunistic alliance” with the INPT.

Highlighting the achievements of the Left Front government in Tripura, West Bengal and Kerala, Mr. Karat said that while no farmer in these States had committed suicide, more than 16,000 farmers committed suicide across the country, mostly in Congress-ruled States because of the wrong policies the governments.

He said Tripura had achieved tremendous success in increasing agricultural productivity and the State had attained food security under the Left Front.

Addressing the rally, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar claimed that after the 2003 Assembly elections, 56,000 families had ceded their relations with the Congress and the INPT. He said the Congress and the INPT wanted to take the State back to the dark days of 1988 when they unleashed terror not only on their political opponents but also on the common people.

Mr. Sarkar pointed out that while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had been stressing on the need to fight extremists and isolate them, his party had forged an alliance with the INPT in Tripura. He, however, expressed the hope that the people of Tripura would give a befitting reply and foil the “evil designs’ of the Congress and INPT.Thousands of CPI(M) workers representing various tribal and non-tribal groups, who arrived late, performed traditional dances as the meeting progressed.

The entire Agartala is gripped by poll fever. All the roads and bylanes of the capital city have been decorated with CPI(M) and Congress flags.

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