Agartala, Dec 23: Alleging that the Opposition Left parties have turned Tripura into a "backward" state during their 35-year rule, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that the state was developed only after the BJP assumed power in 2018.

Addressing a public gathering at Bruhapara, a tribal village in Dhalai district where displaced Brus were rehabilitated, Shah said, during the erstwhile Left rule, Tripura remained completely backward. But the people of the State experienced the fruits of development when the BJP came to power in 2018, he added.

"The Left parties ruled the State for 35 years and always claimed that they worked for the benefit of the poor. The Congress also ruled the State. But the financial condition of the large section of people was not improved. The development in the state was started only after the BJP came to power in 2018," Shah said.

The Union Home Minister also said, during the Left rule, only 2.5% of people in the state used to get piped drinking water. But it rose to 85% during the BJP rule, he added.

"In the Left regime, there were no provisions to offer free food grains to the poor. Now, each person gets 5 kgs of rice and free treatment up to Rs 5 lakh. People are also getting free power and LPG connections. The school drop-out rate reduces to 3%, and 99% of students are getting admissions in various schools in the state," he said.

He also claimed that peace has been restored in the state after signing accords with the ultras. Tripura will emerge as one of the most developed states in the country with the blessings of Tripureswari, he added. Speaking in a separate event at the National Cooperative Conference at Rabindra Bhavan here, the Union Home Minister said he would present the "report cards" of both the BJP and CPI(M) rule in Tripura in the 2028 assembly elections, asserting that the saffron party's performance by then would outweigh the previous Left regime's achievements.

"Tripura has given a mandate to the BJP twice. For the third time (2028 assembly elections), I will come with a report card of our 10-year rule and compare it with that of the 35-year rule of the CPI(M). I hope our report card will outweigh that of the communists," he said.

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