Agartala: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha appealed to Left leaders to join BJP, claiming that the saffron party is like the river Ganga and "taking a dip" will clean all their sins, PTI reported.
Speaking at a public meeting in South Tripura's Kakraban on Sunday, Saha said that BJP was confident about winning elections this year.
"I appeal to the people who still believe in the ideology of Stalin and Lenin to join the BJP because it is like the river Ganga. All your sins will vanish if you take a holy bath in Ganga," he said at the meeting, organized as part of the Jan Vishwas rally.
He said, "The compartments of the train are still vacant. Sit in the vacant bogies, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take all of us to the destination where we are supposed to be."
Later he targeted the opposition CPI(M) in the state, alleging that the Communists in Tripura suppressed its people's democratic rights during their rule for years.
"There was no democracy during the Communist regime, as they believed in violence and terror tactics. In the South Tripura district, as many as 69 opposition leaders were killed during the Left rule. Kakraban was no exception, where a lot of political murders happened," he alleged.
He then claimed that the Union Home Minister Amit Shah flagged Jan Viswas rally would smash the opposition parties in the state, bringing BJP back to power.
He claimed, "The idea of 'prestha pramukh' (page in charge) was successfully carried out by Amit Shah in Tripura during the 2018 assembly elections. It demolished the Communist fort after 25 years. This time, the Jan Viswas rally will do the same to the opposition. They will be visible only through a microscope after the elections."