GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday listed 10 reasons why the people in the country should reject the Congress.
He cited 10 alleged scams which took place during the time of Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre.
His “10 reasons to never vote for Cong” include alleged scams pertaining to coal, Agusta, Commonwealth Games, telecom and Antrix-Devas. The others are Hawk aircraft, INX, Aircel-Maxis, Embraer and land for job scams.
The Congress pilloried him for his “cheap” remarks.
Congress MLA and leader of Opposition in the Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia said the BJP’s charges often turned out to be without any basis. He cited the instances of alleged 2G and 3G scams.
“He talks cheap. We can also cite 10 scams that have taken place under the NDA since 2014,” Saikia said.
“They have waived off loans amounting to Rs 16 lakh crore. What about Chinese aggression? China has grabbed our land. BJP has not fulfilled the commitment of giving 2 crore jobs. The country is going through an economic crisis and there is also price rise,” the Congress leader said.
He reminded Sarma that the BJP’s promise to protect “jati (race), “mati” (land) and “bheti” (hearth) of the Assamese and grant Scheduled Tribe status to six communities remained unfulfilled.
Saikia said the CM was talking rubbish as the BJP was facing a contest from the Congress.
Last month, the Congress-led 16-party Opposition alliance in Assam had levelled 60 charges of misrule, corruption and nepotism against the BJP-led governments in Assam and at the Centre.
The charges figured in a document named “charge sheet” which was released by Congress general secretary and Assam in-charge Jitendra Singh.
The parliamentary elections in the state will be held in the first three phases beginning on April 19.