Gogoi lists 14-year achievements; to contest in upcoming Assembly polls next Assembly polls

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said the state has made rapid progress in all fields during his tenure for the past 14 years. “In the last 14 years, 85 lakh people got employment in Assam. This includes self employment, along with those in government and private sectors,” Gogoi told reporters here on the eve of completing uninterrupted 14 years of his rule. Gogoi said the state had improved a lot during his tenure but “a lot is yet to be done”. “In 2001, the conditions of our economy, security and development were very bad. Now it has improved a lot, mainly with better economic management and secured environment,” he said. “When I took over, employees were not getting salaries for months. Now such situation prevails… We could start development activities from 2005 onwards as the state was running under overdraft till then,” Gogoi said. The Chief Minister said the per capita income has risen to Rs 49,480 in the last fiscal from Rs 13,059 in 2001-02, while the GSDP stood at Rs 1,62,652 crore as against Rs 38,313 crore during the same period.
In another development,  Gogoi also said he would contest the Assembly elections next year and Congress would form government for the fourth term on its own. “I’ll contest elections next year and I am ready for a fight,” Gogoi said when asked if he will be in the fray next year for the upcoming Assembly polls. The 80-year-old veteran said he had not thought about retiring from active politics yet. When asked about Congress’ performance, Gogoi said “we’ll form government again next year. There is no doubt on this.” He also replied in negative on the party’s possibility to form an alliance with any other party such as AIUDF.
“We’ll contest the polls alone. We’ll get majority and form government on our own. We’ll not require any alliance to form government,” Gogoi said. Gogoi formed the government for the first time in 2001 and has been in power for three consecutive terms since then. (PTI)