For me yesterday  was a very pleasant day.  I was at Agartala, the capital of Tripura to attend the marriage of Ms. Somali,  daughter of Com. Swapan Chakraborty,  the Asst. General Secretary of BSNLEU.

I reached Agartala by about 1000 hours by flight from Delhi. Comrade Abhimanyu, GS, was also to come with me, but due to some urgent matters at home he could not. I was received at the Airport by Com. P.C.Dey, senior leader of Agartala. I was accommodated in the same place where the marriage was to take place. Since it was by about 0700 PM, I had sufficient time at my disposal to read some journals which I had brought from home.

Tripura is the only state in the country at present which is ruled y the left, the CPI(M). There were three till last year, Kerala and W.Bengal included. But in the last assembly elections Left lost both. Now only Tripura is left under Left. Though a small state, one of the seven sisters of the North East States, Tripura is not embroiled in the turmoil that is there in the NE area. It is also the state that has moved forward under the Left government. The roads are better, governance is better as also the safety of the people. That is why in each and every Parliament and Assembly poll, the Left is getting more and more support.

BSNLEU is also very strong in the NE including Tripura. In all the membership verifications, NE I & II are getting majority above 90% of the total votes. There is no other organisations there worth mentioning.  The JAC is also functioning well.

The JAC at Agartala had arranged a meeting in connection with my visit. It was well attended with about 250 workers. I was the main speaker and I spoke for about 90 minutes explaining most of the important issues faced by the workers. I also called upon the workers the necessity of participating in the 15th December strike called by the JAC on BSNL and workers issues. The workers heard the speech with rapt attention.

Again to the marriage. The barat was scheduled at 0700 PM and the marriage at 0800 PM. Coms. Swapan Chakraborty and wife Ms. Indrani received me and were happy at my presence. with Many comrades from all parts of NE I & II came. Many comrades spoke about certain issues including the regularisation of casual workers. From W.Bengal Com. Pappan (Gautam Bose) son of Moni Bose had come with his wife and son.  It was a pleasure to meet them after so much time.

The marriage ceremony continued up to 2300 hours or so. Every thing was well-arranged. I met Miss Somali and gave my best wishes and blessings for a very happy marriage. I enjoyed the feast though I did not taste every dish, including non-vegetarian. Coms. Narayan Rai and Sikha at whose marriage hall, the function was arranged have done it very well. They also ensured that every thing including my stay was comfortable. I returned on the morning of 1st December after a very tasty breakfast.