THE Left Front has written an open letter to Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb objecting to his “grossly unparliamentary and undemocratic” remarks egging on BJP cadres to annihilate the Communists from the state before the 2023 assembly election. The Left Front also highlighted the government’s failure on all fronts – be it tackling the coronavirus pandemic or employment generation or maintaining law and order.

“You have addressed a party meeting in Ambassa of Dhalai District. Though it was a party meeting, your address may be taken as the version of the chief minister. What you have said was covered by the media. You have directed your cadres that before 2023 the only task is to completely annihilate the Communists from the state. You also said, all other issues would be addressed later on. That means, during your 31-month rule even after so-called 90 per cent of the electoral promises you claim to have implemented, you are so much scared of the Communists that you cannot depend on popular support. Since March 3, 2018, the day of publication of assembly election results till to date, the innumerable incidents of slaughtering of democracy, particularly incidents of physical attacks on the Left supporters, murders, collection of ransom, raid on the Left party offices, setting those on fire, forcible occupation of Party and mass organisation offices,  the incidents of arson, ransack, loot and causing huge loss of the houses, shops and means of income of the Left leaders and supporters and implicating them in thousands of false cases – all those have your tacit patronage and direction. Former minister Badal Chowdhury was a prey to your political vindictiveness and was inhumanly hackled for several months. Although about one year has passed, the government failed to frame charge against him. As a preparation for 2023 assembly election, the chief minister of ‘double engines’ (same party governments at centre and in state) has to openly advocate for unleashing annihilation drive against the Communists. That apart, some days back the manner you thundered against the state media in a meeting in Subroom astounded all the democratic-minded and peace-loving people of the state.”

What may be the reasons behind your worst type of threatening? Maybe, you need to prove to your patrons both national and international that you are bigger anti-Communist than Hitler and Mussolini. Are you under trial to prove how much you are a hater of socialism, an extreme chauvinist, reactionary and utterly regressive in mind? That is why, even after setting a rule of jungle for the last 31 months, you have directed your cadres that in the next 29 months, their only task is to weed out the Communists and exterminate them.

Everybody realised that during the last 31 months you had done nothing constructive except destructive work. There is no new appointment except retrenchments. You failed to undertake any development scheme and people’s welfare measure in addition to those introduced by the Left Front government. Rather, many development schemes of the earlier government are made defunct due to lack of maintenance. Does your government have guts to announce that the high performance rendered by the earlier Left Front government in respect of road and bridge construction, extension of health services and education, drinking water and irrigation, housing, provision of food and jobs, social welfare, agriculture, horticulture, establishment of small and medium size industry units, increasing purchasing power of the people, expansion of internal market and most importantly, in protection of democratic rights and individual dignity of the people, maintaining peace and harmonious atmosphere upgrading law and order situation –could all these be preserved in your regime? No, you cannot. Not to speak of expanding, you could not protect any single parameter that was achieved by the Left Front government.

On the other hand, everything that was public is going to private hands. Government schools and colleges are being handed over to moneyed men. Who is responsible for the failure to contain coronavirus? Is it not the government? Crimes like rape, gangrape, murder, suicide, sale of infants due to poverty, starvation, number of beggars, trading in narcotics, extortion of money, attack on the religious minorities, the incidents of snatching away of the constitutional rights of the SC/ST people – are not all these on the rise under your rule? Have not the parliamentary elections and the three-tier panchayat elections held in your regime been reduced to a complete mockery? The Left Front government introduced subsidised rates in various government services, including price of fertilizers and other agricultural inputs. What is the position of those now? Why have the plight of the peasantry aggravated? Why is the food security introduced by the Left Front government on the verge of liquidation?     

The Left Front asked, “Has any of the electoral pledges that you made before assuming power been implemented? You promised to take decision in your first cabinet meeting for implementation of seventh Central Pay Commission recommendations in full; you assured to fill up 50,000 vacant posts in government departments. You assured to make a permanent settlement of the 10,323 retrenched teachers. Has any one of these been implemented? You promised to hike MGNREGA wage to Rs 340, social pension to Rs 2,000, provide smart phones to students free of cost, promised establishment of college here and there etc etc.  And what are you doing now? You have cancelled more than 49,000 social pension beneficiaries. Work under MGNREGA and TUEP is almost nil. Whatever small number of works under MGNREGA are done, a bigger portion is done most illegally by machines. Rampant partisanship is going on in selecting beneficiaries in all government schemes. Siphoning off government money is most common in your regime. Violent clashes among your cadres are taking place over sharing of siphoned government money. The recruitment of TET and NET passed candidates is kept pending for many days. SSA teachers are deprived of their due wage by the government. Teachers and the contractual teachers are being transferred to remote areas. Everybody ridicules when you talk about qualitative upgradation of health services and education.” 

Prices of essential commodities are already sky-high, thanks to the neoliberal policies. The prices of medicines have gone up to such an extent as if, only the moneyed men are entitled to get treatment. So also the education. What a terrible situation! In addition to that, the state government has put extra financial burden on the already pauperised people by means of imposing various taxes and cess through administrative order. In the name of raising government revenue, transport fare, license fee, road tax, water tax, property tax, mutation fee, registration fee, electricity rate, everything has been enhanced. Under the rule of double engine it is as if, Tripura has been converted into a hunting ground of outside contractors, suppliers, traders, administrators and advisors.

How long would the people keep silence? Protest demonstrations are getting bigger, voice of protest is becoming louder, and the people are coming out to the streets for survival. How long will you prevent them by imposing Section 144, using water cannons, police and the goondas of your party? All these would be useless very shortly. The people are overcoming panic. They are joining in the movement in bigger number for want of food, shedding difference among the parties and opinions. The BJP-IPFT supporters are fast getting disillusioned. At the same time, the number of your political goondas is also getting reduced. Lathis, lethal weapons and drugs are being handed over to the hands of young boys. The youth of countless families are being turned anti-social. Who is responsible for their degradation? Is it not your government?  Who is responsible for making these families destitute? Is it not you?

So long the class exploitation exists in the society, the Left and the Communists shall remain. The history of the world is the evidence; even after slaughtering of lakhs of Communists they could not be completely annihilated. “Thus, we request you, please abjure the path of violence, stop destabilising the situation. The opportunity to enjoy democratic rights enshrined in the constitution must be ensured by the government. You being the chief minister, this responsibility rests upon only you,” the Left Front Committee wrote.