Agartala, January 05, 2022 : In a scathing attack upon the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tripura former Chief Minister and the leader of opposition Manik Sarkar on Wednesday said that he had represented concocted facts before the people of this state.

Speaking to reporters here in Agartala on Wednesday afternoon, Sarkar reacted to the instigating and untruthful statements of Prime Minister Modi who said that the brake was pressed on the wheels of development and corruption was speeding up in Tripura before the formation of ‘Double Engine’ government.

The Prime Minister is completely unaware of the history of air, rail and road connectivity of Tripura. The government level work and processes started during the regime of the then Left Front government, he added.

Citing the real facts, Sarkar said, “The previous Left Front government placed their demand for increasing the frequency of flights since the time when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister of India. There were flights between Kilkata and Agartala. The state government put pressure on the central government and then connecting flights between Agartala and Delhi started via Kolkata and Guwahati. With this, the state government demanded to modernize the airport from tin-roofed rooms to concrete building”.

“Gradually, the number of passengers also increased, and demand for modifying the airport into an international one was placed during the Leftist regime. After a long process of exchanging letters one after another, centre asked the state to provide land and spending an amount of Rs 35 crore, land was handed over to the central government. The work for the new terminal building of the Agartala Airport started during LF’s regime”, he added.

Sarkar urged the Prime Minister Modi to express his views and place a statement knowing the history of Tripura and its people. The person who gave such information is completely untrue and misleading the PM.

Speaking about the railway connectivity issue, the leader of opposition said “During UPA government, the then Prime Minister of Bangladesh visited New Delhi, talked with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. And the economic advisor asked about the ways to boost economoy, that time, demand for railway linking was placed. It is seen that the point of connecting Agartala with Bangladesh was noted. The then Bangladesh government asked that her government will never take any negative step if either the governments of India or Tripura place a demand”.

In a sarcastic tone, Sarkar asked the Prime Minister Modi, where he was during that time, where was his political party, and where was the double engine.

He further asserted that the work of expansion of national highways also started from the regime of the previous Left Front government and succeeded in collecting 8 national highways for Tripura. Is PM Modi aware about this history? During that time, people never knew that the BJP political party existed. He alleged that the works started during Leftist regime, after the arrival of ‘Double Engine’ governments, the works had not yet been completed, rather the works were found to be punctured. The third Internet Gateway through Cox Bazar in Bangladesh to Agartala was installed and launched during the previous Left Front government’s regime and Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Sheikh Hasina were present at the launching ceremony virtually.

Speaking further about Modi’s statement on PMAY, Sarkar said “In 2011, the Left Front government placed the proposal for allotment of houses for poor people in Tripura under this scheme. We kept on protesting against the policy adopted and placed our demands from time to time”.

“Recently, before the concluded civic bodies election, 1.59 beneficiaries received the first installment under PMAY-Gramin. The local BJP leaders are demanding Rs 5,000, Rs 7,000 and Rs 10,000 from the beneficiaries or else, they will not get the second installment. Is the Prime Minister aware of this development of corruption during his double engine governments’ regime?” alleged leader of opposition.

At last, Sarkar alleged that the double engine governments are drowning in the sea of corruption.