Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said the murder case of journalist Sudip Dutta Bhaumik will be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation within a week if the Bharatiya Janata Party is voted to power in Tripura. The state will hold its Assembly elections on February 18.

Bhaumik was shot dead at the Tripura State Rifles’ 2nd battalion headquarters in RK Nagar on the outskirts of Agartala on November 22, 2017. Four Tripura State Rifles personnel were arrested in connection with the killing. The Left government in Tripura had transferred the case from the district police to the Crime Investigation Department of the state police.

The home minister criticised the Manik Sarkar-led CPI(M) government in the state for failing to make any breakthrough in the murder case. “Till the state government doesn’t recommend it, we cannot do a CBI investigation,” Singh said in Agartala where he was campaigning for BJP candidate Sudip Roy Burman.

Singh also accused the CPI(M) government in the state of stalling development. “After 25 years [of rule], 66% of the people here cannot even afford a cycle,” he added. He cited the examples of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh, and said these states have developed immensely in the last 15 years. “If one compares present situation in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh to what it was 15 years back, they’ll know how development is done, they’ll know what is the art of development,” said Singh, according to ANI.

Apart from promising a CBI inquiry into Bhaumik’s murder case, Singh said all state government employees in Tripura will receive salaries according to the 7th Pay Commission if the BJP is voted to power, reported India Today. Currently, they are paid according to the 4th Pay Commission. The home minister also promised that every household will be provided with a gas connection and health coverage of Rs 5 lakh per year.

Singh is in Tripura since Saturday. During his two-day tour, he flagged off the Tripur Sundari Express from Tripura to Delhi and inaugurated a bus that travels from Agartala to Dhaka.