The ruling BJP in Tripura on Monday vehemently protested against Congress' demand for imposition of President's Rule in the state and condemned it for attempting to 'tarnish' the state's image.

State saffron party leader and Tripura Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Sushanta Chowdhury claimed that AICC general secretary Ajay Kumar and party MLA Sudip Roy Burman had tried to send a "negative message" about Tripura to the nation by placing the demand in Delhi when it is marching ahead under BJP.

"We vehemently condemn the way Ajay Kumar and Sudip Roy Barman demanded President's Rule in Tripura before the national media at the AICC headquarters in Delhi on Sunday citing worsening law and order situation," said Chowdhury.

The Assembly poll in the state is due in March next year.

Keeping up his attack, Chowdhury said, "It is ridiculous that Sudip Roy Barman did not rush to Delhi and seek imposition of President's Rule during 25 years of Communist regime when murder, rape, attacks, threat and intimidation were rampant in the state".

Congress has a tradition of "handing over" power to the Left like in 1993, he claimed.

"The then Prime Minister Narshima Rao had imposed President's rule in Tripura just few days before the Assembly election. The CPI(M)- led Left Front had won when the poll was held three months later," he said.

The Congress, he claimed, is playing the same game now to hand over the power to the Left Front again as it has demanded President Rule. "The Congress and the CPI-M are hand in glove for their mutual benefit," Chowdhury remarked.

He, however, hastened to remark, "But 2022 is not 1993! Now (Narendra) Modiji is the prime minister and the demand of President's Rule will not be entertained even if they seek it because the situation in the state does not support their demand," he said.

"The people of the state are determined to judge the performance of '25 years' of Communist rule and ;four and half years' of BJP-IPFT dispensation. The understanding between Congress and CPI(M) will be rejected in Tripura as it had happened in West Bengal," he asserted.

Despite the Covid pandemic Tripura has grown on all fronts - from supplying piped water to Pradhan M antri Awas Yojana and social pension. "The people of the state will support BJP based on the government's performance," he added.