Guwahati, Apr 1 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera alleged on Wednesday that the BJP government in Assam has been conning the people as, he claimed, poll promises remained unfulfilled for over a decade.
Addressing a press conference here, he also alleged that the wealth of the BJP leaders’ families has multiplied many times.
Khera maintained that the ruling party indulges in all types of tactics to “distract” people’s attention from the real issues in the name of religion, language, food and clothes.
Attacking the BJP administration, the All India Congress Committee Media and Communications chairman referred to the popular Hindi film ‘Bunty aur Babli’, which tells the story of two fictional con artists.
“A ‘Bunty aur Babli’ government running in the state. The first part of this movie is playing in the state now, and it is for the people to stop the release of its second part by voting it out.” The movie was first released in 2005, and its sequel hit the screens in 2021.
Accusing the government of massive corruption, Khera said, “We have witnessed a pattern in the wealth increase of the BJP’s ministers and MLAs, based on information filed in their election affidavit. It is seen that while the assets of the minister or MLA remained the same or even decreased, their wives’ increased manifold.” Cabinet minister Kaushik Rai’s wife’s assets have increased by 2,281 per cent, while those of MLA Diganta Kalita’s by 3,185 per cent, Khera claimed.
Similarly, assets of spouses of Manab Deka and Bhaskar Sharma rose by 763 per cent and 504 per cent, respectively, according to the Congress leader.
The BJP failed to work for the people and did not keep its assurances made to the people in the last 10 years that it has ruled the state, the Congress leader alleged.
Khera listed out “seven lies of the BJP government” over the last decade, maintaining that there were “innumerable others”.
“In every manifesto from 2016, the BJP had promised Scheduled Tribe status for six communities of the state. Not only was it not able to grant it, but the party dropped the assurance altogether from its manifesto this year,” he said.
Khera asserted the BJP-led government failed to control the annual flood problem or make the state corruption-free. It could not provide adequate employment opportunities for the youth nor ensure the welfare of the tea garden workers, he maintained.
Khera also claimed that the BJP rakes up the Bangladeshi issue only for votes, failing to work against illegal migrants during its tenure.
He said only 2,566 illegal immigrants have been deported from India since 2014, when the BJP came to power at the Centre, against 88,792 by the Congress-led UPA government from 2005 to 2013.
The Congress leader also alleged that the government failed to improve the healthcare and education system in the state.
Khera said there was a massive shortage of physicians and surgeons in government hospitals, while newborns are underweight due to the nutritional deficiency of pregnant women.
In the education sector, 8,000 government schools have been closed down since 2015, he added.
On the BJP manifesto announcing of bringing Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state, Khera said, “They will talk about everything to try to polarise this election. They will use language, law, religion, food, and clothing to try and distract attention from the 12,000 bigahs stolen from the people to increase their assets.” The Congress has been accusing the family of the chief minister of grabbing 12,000 bighas of land in the state.
Dismissing the CM’s charge that Congress was politicising the death of singer Zubeen Garg by including the issue in its five guarantees, Khera said, “Asking for justice for Zubeen Garg is not politics. Who doesn’t want to know the conspiracy behind his mysterious death? Why was a weak chargesheet filed, leading to the de-freezing of bank accounts of a key accused?” Khera also maintained that the contest in the state is between “honest and brave Congress versus dishonest and cowardly Congress, whose leader is Sarma”.
He was referring to the chief minister’s Congress roots before defecting to the saffron party in 2015.
“The BJP doesn’t exist in Assam. The real Congress will win,” he added. Elections to the 126-member Assembly will be held on April 9, and votes counted on May 4. PTI SSG SSG NN NN
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