Mired in corruption and a slew of scams, the Congress was getting isolated from the common people because of the “anti-people” policies pursued by it, Chief Minister of Tripura Manik Sarkar said on Tuesday.
With skyrocketing prices of essential commodities becoming the order of the day, people of the country were voicing that the Congress should not be allowed to stage a come back, Mr. Manik Sarkar said at an election meeting held here. The country had not seen this type of a corrupt government, Mr. Sarkar said referring to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance regime.
Campaigning for the CPI(M) Tiruchi Lok Sabha constituency candidate S. Sridhar, Mr. Sarkar said the Congress had ruled the country for 55 years.
Nevertheless, half of the villages were yet to be provided with good connectivity, and 77 per cent of the population could not spend Rs. 20 a day.
There was no proper shelter and clothing for huge chunk of population and the Congress was held responsible for this “pitiable situation”, he said.
Farmers’ suicides, mounting unemployment, closure of mills and factories in big cities, retrenchment of workers, loot of natural resources, and onslaught of extremists were all being witnessed during the Congress rule, he said.
It was in this scenario that the Bharatiya Janata Party was trying to cash in on the failures of the Congress and promising to take care of the problems of the middle class, working class, and small traders.
Stating that the BJP was more “dangerous” than the Congress, Mr. Sarkar said the country would be “dismembered” if the BJP came to power. India’s unity and sovereignty would be endangered if the BJP was voted to power.
It was the BJP, the VHP, the Bajrang Dal, and the RSS combine that demolished the Babri Masjid and it was under the BJP rule that Muslims were attacked in Gujarat. The ideology of the RSS went against secularism and security of minorities.
Appealing to the electorate to reject the Congress and defeat the BJP and its allies, Mr. Sarkar said a non-Congress and the non-BJP alternative could emerge if the Left parties were strengthened.
An alternative policy that takes care of the welfare and interests of people of the country, contain price rise and address issues such as communalism was possible, he said.
