Tripura BJP govt. didn’t fulfil promises made before 2018 assembly election, says CPI (M)

Agartala, March 18 (PTI): The opposition CPI (M) in Tripura slammed the state Budget for 2022-23 fiscal on Friday, claiming that the Biplab Kumar Deb government did not fulfil the promises made by the BJP before the Assembly election in 2018.

Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Dev Varma on Thursday presented an INR 26,893 crore budget for 2022-23 fiscal in the assembly without proposing any new tax while emphasising on development of infrastructure, industries and social sector.

It was the last Budget of the present government. People were eagerly waiting for big announcements that will fulfil the promises made in the BJP’s vision document unveiled before the 2018 Assembly elections. We saw there was no effort to meet the people’s aspirations, CPI (M) state secretary Jitendra Chowdhury told a press conference.

Chowdhury alleged that the Budget has not made it clear from where funds will come to meet the expenditure.

He also claimed there is nothing for the government employees who were hoping to get the pay package as per the 7th Central Pay Commission recommendations as promised in the vision document.

Earlier, government employees used to get dearness allowance or dearness relief twice a year but this tradition has been changed in the BJP era, the CPI (M) leader said.

In the Budget, the finance minister said social pension will be hiked for the poor people from INR 1,000 to INR 2,000. But the BJP had declared in 2018 that it would be enhanced in the first cabinet meeting if the party is voted to power, Chowdhury said.

“The government should implement it from March 2018, he said.

Biplab Kumar Deb had on March 9, 2018, taken oath as the chief minister of Tripura, after the BJP ended the 25-year rule of the CPI (M)-led Left Front.

Referring to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s announcement here earlier this month that 33 per cent of government jobs will be reserved for women in Tripura, Chowdhury claimed that it is not a big deal as the state administration has virtually stopped new recruitments.

Amit Shah-ji visited the state to repair the damage that the party has suffered after two BJP MLAs resigned and another was disqualified,” the CPI (M) leader said.

BJP legislators Sudip Roy Barman and Asish Saha resigned from the Tripura assembly and gave up the membership of the party in February. They later joined the Congress.

Tripura Speaker Ratan Chakraborty in January disqualified BJP MLA Ashish Das who has joined the Trinamool Congress.

The Assembly election is due in the state in 2023.