AGARTALA: Former Tripura chief minister and CPI (M) politburo member Manik Sarkar on Friday said that the democratic culture of the state came under attack after BJP came to power.
According to Sarkar, the primary task of the party should be to restore the democratic ethos.
“We have to make sure that people can exercise their rights without any influence. Democracy needs to be restored and all of our workers should consider it as the primary task. Simultaneously, our movement for employment and food shall continue,” he added.
Sarkar termed the pre-poll promises made by the ruling party hollow and claimed that the BJP’s election manifesto did not have any mentions of the “political vengeance” culture promoted by the ruling party.
“The opposition is under attack, party offices are not safe, MLAs are not allowed to enter their own constituencies. I was once going through the vision document; surprisingly none of this get any mention in it,” Sarkar said while addressing a party event at Agartala.
On the elections, he said, “Opposition and ruling parties exist in a democratic set up. But, the way workers of the ruling party are behaving, they are giving an uncanny indication of establishing one-party rule in Tripura. The tactic of looting votes was first adopted during the panchayat elections and in similar ways polls were conducted till the last civic body elections. Our first priority should be to build confidence among the voters for resistance”.
The event was organized to mark the 153rd birth anniversary of Lenin.
Apart from Sarkar other senior leaders like party state secretary Jitendra Chowdhury and Left Front convener Narayan Kar also spoke on the life and teachings of Lenin.