Assam Congress looks up to Rahul to counter NaMo mania
GUWAHATI: The ruling Congress in Assam is eagerly awaiting party vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s rally here in order to counter the massive turn out in BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s public rally held here on Saturday last.
Assam chief minister and senior Congress leader Tarun Gogoi said Rahul Gandhi would address a public rally in Guwahati after February 20. The rally will provide the ruling Congress an opportunity to show off its strength after the heavy turnout in the rally of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi who is again coming to Assam to hold a rally at Silchar in Barak Valley in South Assam on February 22.
Gogoi on Monday termed Modi ‘irresponsible’ in presenting false facts about development process in Assam and in accusing Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh of not doing anything for the region despite representing Assam for 23 years in Rajya Sabha.
“Modi forgot to mention about Mahatma Gandhi in his address. Modi is a dedicated worker of RSS whose ideology of hatred led to the killing of Mahatma Gandhi. I am a dedicated volunteer of Gandhij,” Gogoi quipped.
Gogoi claimed that the Prime Minister and the Congress-led UPA government had been very generous towards facilitating rapid development in Assam by providing adequate financial support. He said the PM was instrumental in sanctioning construction of four more bridges on the mighty Brahmaputra river in Assam, construction of over Rs 5400 crore gas cracker project, construction of hundreds of kilometers of roads during the last ten years, sanctioning up gradation of national highway 175 (old NH 37) from Nagaon to Dibrugarh to a four-lane one.
Gogoi informed that when Atal Behari Vajpayee was the prime minister, the BJP-led NDA government provided Assam only with Rs 13,280 crore as 11th Finance Commission award while the incumbent UPA government provided the State with Rs 57,832 crore as the 13th finance commission award which has given the much desired impetus to Assam’s development.
Gogoi lambasted Modi for providing false facts in the mass rally about the number of jobs created under MNREGA in Assam. While Modi claimed that only 10018 persons were given jobs against 12 lakh applicants for MNREGA jobs in the state, Gogoi quoting ‘Government of India figures’ claimed that 13.08 lakh jobs were provided under MNREGA in Assam as against only 1.71 lakhs jobs provided in Gujarat where Modi is the chief minister.
Gogoi claimed that Assam was on a faster track on development than Gujarat ruled by Modi. The Assam CM said the gross state domestic product (GSDP) of Assam had increased from 2.60 % in the year 2001 (when Congress led by Gogoi came to the power) to 13 % in the year 2012-13. In comparison the GSDP in Gujarat increased from 8.41 % in 2001 to 8.52 % in the year 2012-13.