Lotus to bloom in Tripura after Assembly polls: Rajnath Singh

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today said "lotus will bloom" in Tripura after the Assembly polls as the people of the state are "disenchanted" with the "corrupt" Left Front government.
Tripura is set go to polls on February 18 and the results will be declared on March 3.
"Seeing the huge turnout at the party's road show, 'Vijay Sankalapa Yatra', this morning, I now have no doubt that the corrupt Left Front government will be rooted out in the Assembly polls," he said at a public rally at Indranagar in the northern part of the state capital.
The home minister said he was surprised to find out that 66 per cent of the people live below poverty line in the state.

"Lotus blooms in mud. The CPI(M) government, with its scams and corrupt practices over the last 25 years, has created the ground for the blooming of lotus," he said.
Earlier, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh were referred to as "the weak and sick states of the country" but after the BJP came to power in these states, the problems have been taken care of, the Union minister claimed.

"Not a single minister has indulged in any corrupt practice in the NDA governments under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Narendra Modi," he said.
The Vajpayee-led government had formed the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) for the welfare of the people, he noted.

Singh also criticised the Tripura government over the law and order situation in the state and promised to order a CBI probe into the killings of two journalists there if the BJP is voted to power.
Shantanu Bhowmick (28), a journalist of local TV channel 'Din Rat', and Sudip Datta Bhaumick (50) of 'Syandan Patrika', were killed in a span of two months in the second half of last year.
"The Manik Sarkar-led government did not recommend a CBI inquiry into the killings of the two scribes here despite pleas by journalist associations. The national average of conviction rate is 46, in Tripura it is 22," he said.

The minister also said that the central government maintains a cordial relationship with its counterpart in Bangladesh and the bilateral ties have helped India contain insurgency in the state to a great extent.
The common people here are insecure as incidents of political violence have increased in Tripura, he said.
"But as the home minister of the country, I can say that if the BJP is voted to power there will be no violence. We will provide safety and security to all, including the supporters and the leaders of the CPI(M)," he added.