Now we know what ‘HIRA’ means, says Left

PNB scam gets into poll rhetoric in Tripura

The diamonds of Nirav Modi have taken the shine off Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to replace ‘ manik ’ with ‘HIRA’ in poll-bound Tripura, the ruling Left Front has said, referring to the recent banking scam.

‘ Manik ’, an allusion to Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, means gemstone in Bengali. HIRA, which means diamond, was the acronym given by the Prime Minister for ‘highways, I-ways, roadways, airways’.

On Thursday, while the Prime Minister addressed BJP rallies in Shantirbazar and Agartala, Left Front leaders used the diamond allegory to drive home the “real meaning of HIRA”.

In the Majlishpur Assembly constituency, State Urban Development Minister Manik Dey reminded voters what they would have in store if a Marxist ‘

manik ’ — referring to himself — was replaced by Mr. Modi’s HIRA.

‘Defective diamonds’

At CPI(M)’s Tripura headquarters in Agartala’s Melarmath, Polit Buro member Brinda Karat took a jibe at the BJP for being “studded with defective

hira polished by [BJP chief] Amit Shah”.

“A gem of a scam surfaced after the Prime Minister sent most of his gems to campaign in Tripura. We are indeed headed for a sparkling election,” she said.