Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Wednesday appealed to the “indigenous” people of the State to forget the communist legacy of the CPI(M) and embrace “democracy-loving monarchs” who had worked for the welfare of all.
“There was an effort to make people forget our kings and remember Stalin and Lenin. Who knows who they are? Does any indigenous person know about them? What will happen by knowing about them?” Mr. Deb asked the audience.
He was addressing an event organised by the BJP to thank the Centre for renaming the Agartala airport after Maharaja Birbikram Kishore Manikya, the last ruler of princely Tripura.
“Manikya kings were democracy-loving monarchs. Tripura did not have any oppressive rule like the Tsarist regime in Russia,” he said.
The Chief Minister said all indigenous people should have images of Maharaja Bir Bikram at their homes and know that he was the architect of modern Tripura.
“Maharaja Bir Bikram’s thoughts are still relevant for the development of the indigenous people. So, forget them (Stalin and Lenin),” Mr. Deb said.
The Agartala airport was constructed in 1942 on land donated by the Maharaja, an official statement said in New Delhi on July 4 after the Union Cabinet had approved the renaming.
TMC opposes move
The Tripura unit of the Trinamool Congress has, however, opposed the renaming of the airport after the king.
“Kings of Tripura exploited the people... We severely oppose renaming of the airport after such a king and demand to name it after leaders who developed democratic Tripura into a modern State,” State Trinamool chief Ashish Lal Singh said.