BY TC News Desk
Agartala, October 15: The Dharmanagar Railway Division Demand and Development Committee, which has been demanding the establishment of a railway division in Dharmanagar for a long time, held a press conference at the Dharmanagar Press Club on the eve of Durga Puja. The committee members expressed their dissatisfaction with the state and central governments for not fulfilling their demand, despite repeated assurances from various BJP leaders.
The press conference was attended by Ranjoy Deb, former president of the state BJP and advisor to the committee, Kandarp Bhattacharya, president of the committee, Radhakant Nath, general secretary, Himanshu Pal and Kangkaj Kumar Dey, secretary, Kaushik Nath, secretary, Treasurer Dhrubajyoti Dev Chowdhury and Auditor Jagadish Chandradhar. They informed the journalists that they have been agitating for setting up a railway division in Dharmanagar since 2013, but no government has paid attention to its implementation.
They said that the BJP leaders had promised to set up a railway division in Dharmanagar in their election manifesto in 2013, and also announced it at various public meetings. However, after coming to power in the state in 2018, the BJP government has not taken any concrete steps to fulfill this demand. The committee members said that they have approached every MLA of North Tripura, Unkoti district and Dhalai district and requested them to raise this issue in the assembly. They also said that they have met the Union Minister Pratima Bhowmik and the East Tripura Reserved Lok Sabha Constituency MP Revati Tripurao and urged them to take up this matter with the central government.
The committee members also presented their seven-point charter of demands, which includes the completion of survey work on Dharmanagar to Agartala via Kailashahar Kamalpur Khoi rail line, the establishment of Jampui rail link from Dharmanagar via Kanchanpur, the connection of Dharmanagar to Bangladesh Juri for commercial expansion, and the arrangement of more trains from Dharmanagar to Silchar, Sabrum and Agartala. They said that they wanted to meet the state Chief Minister Dr. Manik Saha when he visited Dharmanagar last time, but could not do so due to his busy schedule. They appealed to the Chief Minister to look into their demands and take necessary initiatives to set up a railway division at Dharmanagar.
The committee members warned that if their demands are not met soon, they will intensify their agitation and launch various democratic movements. They said that setting up a railway division in Dharmanagar will benefit not only the people of North Tripura, but also the entire state and the neighbouring countries. They said that they will not give up their fight until their demand is fulfilled.
