Saturday, Apr 27, 2024 | Last Update : 12:48 AM IST
Gogoi: BJP will bring goonda raj
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, facing criticism for derogatory remarks made by leaders fro his party, said here on Tuesday that the BJP intends to win the 2016 Assembly elections with “muscle power
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, facing criticism for derogatory remarks made by leaders fro his party, said here on Tuesday that the BJP intends to win the 2016 Assembly elections with “muscle power” and is trying to bring “goonda raj” to Assam.
Indicating that former minister and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma was the mastermind of an alleged attack on Congress headquarters in Guwahati on Monday, Mr Gogoi announced that his government has ordered an inquiry into the attack on the Congress office.
In an obvious attempt to counter BJP charges, Mr Gogoi said, “Never in Assam’s history has such an incident happened where the office of a political party is vandalised like it happened on Monday. Not even during the days of the Assam agitation (1979-1985), led by the All-Assam Students Union, did any such attack take place. Militant outfit Ulfa killed our leaders but never attacked our offices or the office of any political party.”
However, Mr Gogoi’s claim was denied by BJP leaders who pointed out to when Ulfa had bombed Rajiv Bhavan during Mr Gogoi’s first tenure.
Continuing his tirade, Mr Gogoi said external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj and human resources development minister Smriti Irani visited Assam recently. “Instead of talking about the problems and issues confronting the state, Ms Swaraj was busy meeting businessmen.”
He said Ms Swaraj, being a Union minister, should have met government officials. “We have problems where declared illegal immigrants from Bangladesh are not accepted by Bangladesh, there are reports of China constructing dams in the upper reaches of Brahmaputra and north-eastern insurgents in Myanmar. She does not have time to discuss all these issues.
Does New Delhi only deal with foreign affairs,” Mr Gogoi asked. The CM said funds for Central universities have been slashed, several higher education institutes are witnessing conflicts over attempts to curb autonomy and that many IITs do not have enough professors. Mr Gogoi said Union ministers had hardly any time to take note of people’s grievances.
