Country going forward, Left-ruled Tripura backwards: Rahul

Agartala, March 25 (IANS) Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi Tuesday said while the rest of India is moving ahead, the Left-ruled Tripura is moving back.

"The Congress-led central government has been providing hundreds of crores of funds for the development of children, women and all sections of people besides the state, but the Left Front government is siphoning off these funds," Gandhi said.

In his just 12-minute speech at a rally at Karaimura, 20 km south of Agartala, he said: "The UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government at the centre has undertaken schemes to remove poverty and to provide jobs to the unemployed."

The Congress leader said: "Earlier, communism did not succeed in Russia. Communists in China are changing their style of work. Communist governments have already been defeated in West Bengal and Kerala and the Left government in Tripura would also be voted out."

"Whatever funds are coming from the central government, be it MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) or PMGSY (Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana) or any welfare scheme, these are going to CPI-M funds and to middle men, not to the people," he said.

"Future of your children, future of Tripura at the hands of the communist rule is completely gloomy," he told the masses at the rally and urged them to start removing communists from India.

According to Gandhi, the Left government in Tripura is only for the party not for people. They are not doing anything for the unemployed youth, women and children.

"Crimes against women in Tripura is very high. The Left government is doing nothing to check these growing crimes," he alleged.

Gandhi said the MGNREGA, the Right to Information Act and the Food Security Act have brought revolution in the country. "Due to the initiative of the UPA government, poverty of over 15 crore people has been permanently removed."

The UPA government that has done a lot for the development of the northeastern states, if voted to power, would pass the women reservation bill on priority basis, he said.

The Congress vice president came to Tripura after addressing an election rally at Nagrakata in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal.

Accompanied by AICC general secretary and in-charge of northeast region Luizinho Faleiro, Gandhi left here Tuesday afternoon for Kolkata to address more public meetings there.