‘People will not accept you’: Tripura CM Manik Saha takes swipe at Left-Congress after VC poll results

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha has said the results of the Village Committee (VC) elections once again showed that people in the state were not willing to accept the CPI(M)-Congress alliance or its ideology.

Speaking on October 6, Saha said he had earlier predicted that the NDA would secure more than 90 per cent of the seats and claimed the results had matched those expectations.

“We are being told repeatedly here that we have worked as we have done before. We went to the elections and got more than what we expected. This is good for Tripura, and in the future, we hope that we will work together in the plains and hills and for the development of Tripura,” Saha said.

Taking a swipe at the opposition, the Chief Minister said its leaders needed to examine the reasons behind their repeated electoral defeats.

“I will tell the opposition the same thing again and again: they need to think about why this is happening to them,” he said, adding that the ideology they relied on had been rejected by voters “again and again”.

Saha also accused the opposition of failing to understand the aspirations of the people and said its political messaging was outdated.

“Everyone knows what people really want, what people need, and what they expect from the government or the various levels of government institutions,” he said.

According to Saha, opposition parties continued to rely on “traditional hopes” that were no longer relevant. “These are already backdated now. These will not be able to come in the future under any circumstances,” he said.

He also criticised the opposition for questioning the electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the Election Commission after electoral defeats.

“Whenever they lose, they blame the EVMs and the Election Commission. And they have repeated the same in the aftermath of the declaration of the VC elections,” Saha said.

A day earlier, on October 6, Saha had described the NDA's performance in the VC elections as being on expected lines. Speaking to ANI, he said the alliance had anticipated a strong showing.

“Look, this was expected. We had stated earlier as well that we would achieve good results in the VC elections, and the NDA would perform strongly. The results are turning out exactly on those lines,” he said.

Saha said the outcome offered a positive outlook for Tripura and reiterated his government's vision of building a “New Tripura” by bringing different sections of society together.

“I believe the coming days will be very good for Tripura. We want to build a 'New Tripura' by taking everyone along—indigenous communities (Janajati), general communities (Jati), Manipuris, and minorities,” he said.

He added that the result reflected Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of inclusive development in the state.