Amid demands from the ruling camp for revision of voter rolls in Tripura on the lines of the recent exercise in Bihar, former Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar Thursday said the RSS-BJP combine was trying to unleash attacks on the Constitution and revise it with an anti-Muslim, anti-women, and anti-Dalit mindset.
Sarkar said, “The common people are not saying this; only RSS-BJP is saying. If anyone speaks Bengali, then they are called Bangladeshis… Muslim community people, if they speak in their mother tongue, Bengali, how can they become Bangladeshi?”
When asked about his take on the smart electricity meter issue, he said, “The BJP in Bengal protested against the installation of smart meters by the Trinamool Congress. The same BJP is trying to install smart meters in Tripura. There was no problem with the existing machines. Why, all of a sudden, was the smart meter needed? It is clear that some capitalists are making the machines, and that’s why they have been forcibly trying to replace the existing meters. And people are receiving inflated power bills after the installation of smart meters. The protest by the people against smart meters is, therefore, relevant.”
On Thursday, Sarkar also participated in a march to the Governor’s House organised by the Fishermen Union. The rally culminated near Circuit House where Sarkar and other Left leaders addressed the gathering. Later, a six-member delegation met the Governor and submitted a memorandum comprising 13 demands.
Terming the 13-point charter of demands as “relevant, logical, and timely,” Sarkar emphasised safeguarding the interests of the fishermen community by attaining self-sufficiency in fish production.
“Even though importing fish may meet the demands of people here, crores of money are going outside the state to import these items. We have to bring the import to zero in phases…” said Sarkar.
“We appealed to the Governor to draw the attention of the chief minister towards these demands,” Sarkar added.
