Left Front manifesto promises development of vital sectors

Agartala, Feb 3: The ruling Left Front has promised to continue development activities in all vital sectors if it is voted back to power in Tripura.

Besides, the party campaigners, in the Left Front's manifesto for the Assembly elections, which was released yesterday, committed to implement specific measures to make Tripura a prosperous state.

The manifesto sought to reach out to cross sections of the electorate - farmers, youth, rural and urban dwellers - with special emphasis on the development of tribals, minorities and infrastructure improvement.

Releasing a 40-page manifesto, Left Front convener and MP Khagen Das said the poverty alleviation and overall socio-economic development of common people would be the top priority sector for the Left Front in Tripura.

Mr Das also said the party would exert pressure on the Centre to rehabilitate the victims, whose land establishments had been fenced out, following the wire fencing along the Indo-Bangladesh border in Tripura.

''The Left parties were opposing the move of construction of the wire fencing 150 yards inside the Indian territory and demanded to construct it at zero line, but the Centre refused to accept it.

Therefore, it is legitimate to give due compensation to the 7,000 fence victim families,'' he said.

''The state government would pressurise the Centre for extension of railway connectivity up to Sabroom as well as to set up railway link with Akhaura of Bangladesh, international entry point to Agartala for establishing trade links with Bangladesh,'' Mr Das asserted.

He also promised that the government would continue the infrastructure development of the Agartala airport as well as resumption of air service from Kamalpur to Agartala and Kailashahar, besides strengthening of surface communication.

However, the Opposition Congress criticised the manifesto, saying that it had ignored the employees' issue completely.

The Congress also claimed that whatever achievements had been shown in the manifesto during the past five years, were in fact the contribution of the Congress-led government at the Centre and the development would be accelerated to two or three times its present pace if the Congress came to power.

UNI