Agartala

Chief Minister Manik Saha on Saturday urged people to vote for the BJP in the Tripura Areas Autonomous District Council elections for peace and development.

Addressing a programme at Dhumacherra in Dhalai district, Saha said other political parties -- the Congress, the CPI(M) and the Tipra Motha Party -- have already been tested and failed to ensure development in the tribal autonomous areas.

"The elections to 28 seats of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TAADC) will be announced anytime. This time, people must vote for the BJP for peace and development because other political parties have been tested and failed to deliver," he said.

Saha claimed that under the BJP rule, not only Tripura but the entire Northeast is witnessing peace and development.

"If you vote for the BJP in the coming elections, development and peace will take centre stage," he said.

Asserting that the BJP is unstoppable, whether in Delhi, Maharashtra or Madhya Pradesh, the chief minister said no force could stop the party from winning the tribal council elections by resorting to violence, threat or intimidation.

Saha said the present government wants the development of all languages of ethnic tribes of the northeastern state.

"We have a separate department for protecting tribal culture, language and arts. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has already made the party’s stand clear on the script of Kokborok language -- to adopt Devanagari or develop an indigenous script," he said.

Rejecting the demand for Roman script for the Kokborok language, the chief minister said the government would never allow any foreign script for it.

The Tipra Motha Party, an ally of the BJP-led coalition government, has been persistently demanding Roman script for the Kokborok language on the grounds that it suits the local language.

Without naming him, Saha accused TMP supremo Pradyot Kishore Debbarma of misleading the tribal people on various issues, including the script for Kokborok language.

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"Some people are trying to confuse the tribals in the name of the script for Kokborok, but we are in favour of development of all indigenous languages. I am not anti-Roman or English language as some people have campaigned against me. I would not have converted 125 Bengali medium schools into English medium Vidyajyoti schools (CBSE) if I had a problem with English," he said.

Earlier, a total of 587 voters from different parties who joined the BJP were welcomed by the chief minister in the presence of party general secretary Bipin Debbarma.