The Opposition Congress on Wednesday punched holes in the claims made by the ruling BJP-led coalition in the state on securing the future of Assam and its people.
Assam PCC president Bhupen Kumar Borah addressing mediapersons on completion of a year by chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said though the BJP and its allies had made promises galore before the 2021 Assembly polls, these have remained unfulfilled. The BJP-led alliance had won the Assembly polls comfortably for a second straight term at Dispur.
Borah highlighted issues related to health, economy, constitutional safeguards, custody death among others to drive home the point that the government has not delivered.
Few of the issues raised by him included:
⚫ The BJP had taken the responsibility of defining who is an Assamese for providing constitutional safeguards under the 1985 Assam Accord. It is yet to be done. But recently it defined who is an indigenous Muslim to ensure his welfare? How is that possible?
What about other communities? Isn’t the government pursuing a divide-and-rule policy for political gains? I ask the chief minister to issue a public clarification over the issue.
⚫ The BJP had promised an error-free NRC to weed out illegal foreigners. Union home minister Amit Shah was in the state for two days. We were waiting to hear from him on the NRC, the CAA, Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, jati mati bheti to secure the future of the state and its people. But we did not hear anything.
⚫ The chief minister recently said only the court can award death sentence. I see it as the CM warning himself (the home minister) that the police cannot give death sentence. But on the other hand, 47 people have died in police action in the state. Sarma is also the state home minister.
⚫ The government has been on a medical college building spree but I want to ask the health minister (Keshab Mahanta) whether all the medical colleges have at least one nephorologist, cardiologist and neurologist? Building hospitals is welcome but how beneficials will these institutions be without adequate manpower and specialists?
Health sector sources said none of the three specialists were available in Tezpur, Barpeta and Lakhimpur medical college and hospitals while only a cardiologist was there at the Jorhat Medical College & Hospital.
Assam at present has eight medical college and hospitals while six more will be completed by 2025. There is plan to set up medical colleges in all 35 districts.
⚫ Assam chief minister says it wants to figure among the top five states in the country. But a close look at the various parameters will show Assam placed 22nd among all states and UTs in per capita income, 31st in education, 20th ease of doing business, 24th in health, 31st in human resources, 19th in safe drinking water. Its unemployment and poverty rate is above the national average. I want to know whether the other states will be sleeping to allow us to get past them? I want to know whether beneficiaries schemes such as the Orunodoi will help us become a developed state? Assam owes around Rs 17,000 crore to its contractors. Together with a loan burden of Rs 1.08 crore thousand, one can imagine the health of our economy!
⚫ The BJP-led government had promised one lakh government jobs within the first year. The deadline has been extended to May 14 but the number of jobs to reduced top 25000, dashing the hopes of the unemployed. I ask the chief minister to apologise to the unemployed.
Bhupen Borah also took a dig at the chief minister for his “slip of tongue” at Tuesday’s massive rally in Guwahati to mark one year of his government where Sarma referred to Shah as the Prime Minister and Narendra Modi as the home minister while thanking them and BJP national president J.P. Nadda for their guidance and blessings.
Borah said on Wednesday, “What we got ... We got a new Prime Minister!”
Assam Congress also tweeted, “When @sarbanandsonwalJi was the CM, MP @pallablochandason several occasions referred to cabinet minister @himantabiswa ji as the CM in public! Has #BJP decided its next @PMOIndiareplacing @narendramodiJi? Or a campaign has been launched to promote @AmitShah ji as the PM?”
