BJP-IPFT conspiring to usurp power from Left: Tripura CM

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar today described the pre-poll alliance between the BJP and the Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) as an "unholy combination", which was "conspiring" to usurp power from the Left Front in the north-eastern state.
The 60-member Tripura Assembly goes to the polls on February 18 and the BJP and the IPFT have entered into an understanding, whereby the former will field candidates from 51 seats and the latter from nine.
"I would appeal to you all to remain alert about their conspiracy, keep a close vigil on the situation and inform the police if you find outsiders moving around your locality," Sarkar told an election rally here.

He said the chief of the banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) had recently announced that the outfit would extend support to the IPFT in the ensuing election, which only proved that the IPFT was nothing but the "overground mask" of the "underground insurgent group".
Sarkar, who is a CPI(M) politburo member, said the BJP had raised a slogan of changing the government in Tripura, but the people of the country were preparing to change them in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls for their "jumla" or the promises they failed to honour.
He added that the people of the state had witnessed the days of insurgency and were now being organised under the Left flag to give a befitting reply to the BJP-IPFT alliance.

Pointing out that the BJP had assured to generate two crore jobs in the country every year and reduce the prices of essential commodities, Sarkar said that in reality, the prices were skyrocketing and those employed were losing their jobs.
Referring to the IPFT's call for a separate state by carving out the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), the veteran CPI(M) leader expressed confidence that the people of the state would not let that happen and that they would protect the state by all means.