Agartala/UNI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah Thursday sought votes for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming Tripura assembly elections saying his party must be returned to power for bringing the state to par with others.

Addressing a rally termed “Vijay Sankalpa Yatra” at Sabroom in South Tripura, Shah said a milestone of development was set and a sense of nationalism established in governance during the first term of BJP - after it came to power in 2015 by unseating the Left Front.

"Tripura has become the third best-performing state among the small states of the country and now Prime Minister has a mission to make Tripura the numero uno in the country for which BJP’s victory in the assembly polls slated for early this year is important," he said.

Criticising Congress, CPI-M and Trinamool Congress, Shah said, “For 72 years after Independence, Article 370 was nurtured by the Congress with the support of communists and like-minded parties, in 2019 when I introduced the bill to repeal Article 370 from Kashmir they all united to prevent it but Modiji didn’t listen. As a result, Kashmir has become a proud region of India and a long-cherished peace has been restored.”

Shah said there was a ‘cadre raj', corruption and a regime of manipulation under communist rule, but now everything has come to an end.

He said there had been a visible change in governance under BJP’s rule and Tripura is marching ahead with flying colours like other states of the country.

Over 10,000 crores have been invested for infrastructure development of the state, work for 850 kilometres of National Highway construction is progressing, and Rs 1300 crore worth of World Bank funds sanctioned for tribal area development in five years, he informed.

“Tourism infrastructure in Tripura has witnessed a sea change in five years and now people from across the country are coming to the major tourist destinations, which boosted the state's economy and also opened up several opportunities for the youths. But many more things are waiting for the state's people,” Shah attributed.

In the morning, Shah flagged off Jana Biswas Yatra on a chariot at Dharmanagar in North Tripura followed by addressing a rally. T

he chariots of Jana Biswas and Vijay Sankalpa are scheduled to meet at Agartala on Jan 12 where BJP national president J P Nadda will address a rally.