Modi talks federalism in Northeast as Biplab takes oath

Guwahati: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday stressed the need for encouraging cooperative federalism to serve people in states as Biplab Kumar Deb took oath as chief minister of Tripura at a grand ceremony attended by BJP national president Amit Shah and party leaders.

Addressing a public meeting after the swearing-in ceremony of the first BJP government in Tripura, Mr Modi said that people of a state do not belong to any political party, they are the citizen of India and his government is committed to work for their welfare without making any distinction.

Referring to the new Biplab Kumar Deb government, the Prime Minister said, “This government is for all — whether they voted for us or not.”

The Prime Minister also reiterated that the BJP’s victory in the frontier state can be attributed to the party’s commitment to the idea of cooperative federalism.

Mr Biplab Kumar Deb’s taking over as chief minister brought an end to the 25-year rule of the Left Front.  Apart from the chief minister, Jishnu Deb Burman was administered the oath of office as deputy chief minister along with seven ministers, including BJP-ally Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura’s (IPFT) chief N.C. Debbarma. A 100-ft-long stage was erected for the swearing in ceremony.

Mr Modi, while addressing people who came to witness the swearing-in ceremony of the new BJP government, said that Tripura’s election results ares a verdict that will stand out and will be talked about for a long time.

“Tripura election is one such election where new analysis will keep on emerging. This is another facet of Indian democracy. People here have scripted history,” he said.

Stressing the need of accelerating the pace of development in the Northeast, Mr Modi said, “I have visited the Northeast over 25 times in the last four years, which is more than all Prime Ministers put together in the last 70 years. I am happy that the efforts made in last four years have started bearing results.”

Asking elected representatives from both the ruling party and the Opposition to work together for the state’s development , Mr Modi said, “Those in the Opposition in Tripura today have been in power for long. They surely have a lot of experience. Ours is a new and fresh team. In age, too, our team is younger. They have anubhav (experience), we have umang (joy) and utsah (enthusiasm). We have to work together for the progress of Tripura.”

“In the history of India, there are some elections that will always be discussed. The 2018 Tripura elections will be one such example. People will continue to discuss these polls,” said Mr Modi who in a rare gesture went to see off and welcome the former chief minister Manik Sarkar.

BJP president Amit Shah said that that the party’s government will ensure Tripura develops as a model state. “Earlier budget allocations was done but it never used to get converted into development,” he said.