BJP spent crores in bid to topple my government: Gogoi

Bogged down by the Opposition’s attack, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said here on Tuesday that the BJP spent crores of rupees to topple his government with the help of the governor, but failed.

Mr Gogoi told reporters that the BJP, with the help of his former aide Himanta Biswa Sarma, had planned to topple the government in Assam. Accusing the BJP of spending hundreds of crores of rupees before the Bihar elections to topple his government, Mr Gogoi said, “With the help of Himanta Biswa Sarma the BJP had roped in 35 rebel Congress MLAs.” Mr Gogoi said the BJP employed the same tactics in Arunachal Pradesh and was now doing the same in Uttarakhand to topple the Congress government there.

Mr Gogoi added, “The in-charge governor of Assam was also involved in this conspiracy. Without his support how was it possible ” He said the BJP was appointing RSS activists as governors just to fulfil its agenda of toppling Congress governments in the states.

The Assam CM also launched a blistering attack on former colleague-turned-BJP-leader Himanta Biswa Sarma, accusing him of betraying him. Mr Gogoi regretted his decision to trust Mr Sarma during his tenure with the Congress. “Yes, I trusted him a lot. He betrayed a simple man like me. Himanta and all his supporters were not original Congressmen.”

He said, “Himanta was with Ulfa, then AASU, AGP, Congress, and now in BJP.”

It is significant to note that Mr Gogoi had defended Mr Sarma whenever he was accused of his connections with Ulfa while in the Congress.

Describing the political crisis followed by President’s Rule in Uttarakhand as murder of democracy by the BJP, Mr Gogoi said, “You did it in Arunachal, and now Uttarakhand. The government was to test its majority the next day and you toppled it. (This is) Hitler in India! This simply reflects the dictatorial mindset of the BJP.”

Mr Sarma, leading the BJP’s election campaign in Assam, was the Jalkubari MLA from 2001 to 2015. A former member of the Congress party, he joined the BJP in August 2015 after a two-year rebellion against Mr Gogoi’s alleged bid to promote his son and MP Gaurav Gogoi as his successor.