Congress to be extinct, communists will find place in museums: Tripura CM Manik Saha

Agartala: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Tuesday claimed that the communists will be found in museums in the days to come, while the Congress will become extinct.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Front had governed the northeastern state between 1978 and 1988 and again from 1993 to 2018. In between, the Congress was in power for five years.

"Since the BJP came to power in Tripura (in 2018), the communists are losing their ground and grabbed the hand of the Congress, another party whose misrule affected the people,” Saha said.

The Congress will soon become extinct, the chief minister said at an election rally at Chakmaghat in Khowai district.

Attacking the Left party, he said, "We may not be there but it is for sure that they (CPIM) will find a place in museums and the people will have to visit museums to know about them."

Saha also slammed the I.N.D.I.A. bloc for criticising the Tipra Motha for joining the BJP-led alliance before the Lok Sabha elections.

"The CPI(M) and Congress had tried to rope in Tipra Motha before the elections but they could not succeed. I used to talk to Tipra Motha chief Pradyot Kishore Debbarma and exhorted him not to fall into the trap of the opposition and finally, he chose the right path,” he said.

The tribal-based Tipra Motha bagged 13 seats in the 60-member assembly in last year’s election and became the main opposition party. It, however, joined the Manik Saha government last month and two of its MLAs became ministers.

Laying emphasis on amity between tribals and non-tribals, Saha urged the BJP's two allies - Tipra Motha and IPFT - to continue with the electoral understanding with the saffron camp for the next 50 years to make Tripura a developed state.