MELAGHAR (Tripura), Oct 15 (TIWN): When starvation has gripped across Tripura, unemployment reached almost 40%, while inaugurating Durga Puja pandal at Melaghar on Sunday, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb said "Nothing is called poverty. Instead poverty is a mental disease".

"The previous Chief Minister Manik Sarkar also used to call himself as a poor man, but how can a Chief Minister be poor ? I am a Chief Minister but I am not poor as I belong to 37 lakh people of the state", said CM.

"The vehicle Manik Sarkar used, I also use it. The home he resided I also live there", CM said even after he renovated his house with around 2 crores of cost along with setting gym in the quarter, luxurious furniture, multiple ACs. 

"My mentality is rich and so I want to develop my state. His mentality was poor and so his state was poor. Manik Sarkar even after continuing 20 years as CM could not develop state due to his poor mentality", he added.

"Manik Sarkar also has two eyes but could not see from deep like me". 

Citing example CM said, "Here in the crowd, few people are standing who can see the guests from their eyes and there are also people who not only sees but can observe the people sitting here".

"Intuition, perspective of Manik Sarkar were not like me. His brain was working in that way, but I understood Tripura's face in 7 months but he could not in 20 years. Tripura is my motherland but he could not see Tripura like me", Biplab Deb added.