Guwahati:Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Saturday questioned the source of BJP’s huge election expenses and said the Centre’s assertion of a non-corrupt government is “just a slogan”. “BJP spent the highest amount in 2014 election among all the parties. They also spent a huge amount in Assam polls this year and it was much more than us. Where have they got this money from?” Gogoi said at a press conference here.
“BJP always talks about corruption of Congress and says their governments are non-corrupt. Then who has given them so much money for election campaigning? Will someone give money without any benefit? Non-corrupt government statement is just a slogan,” he added.
BJP has spent a huge amount in advertisements, meetings and other activities during the Assam Assembly polls this year, Gogoi alleged. He, meanwhile, expressed confidence that Congress will form the government for the fourth consecutive term in the state.
On AgustaWestland chopper scam, he questioned why the Centre was sitting idle for two years and did not arrest the culprits. “Everyone accepted that there was a scam. Then why are you not catching the culprit? Actually in order to hide its failure and to divert public attention from the basic issues, the NDA Government is blowing the AgustaWestland into a huge issue,” Gogoi said.
Talking about rise in prices of essential commodities, the Assam Chief Minister said the government is monitoring the situation on daily basis. He alleged that the price rise is partly because BJP collected huge money from traders before the Assembly polls and now the business community is passing on the burden. “However, we are taking measure and it is now coming down. We are now monitoring the prices of non-essential items and looking to control them as well,” Gogoi said.
Regarding the flood problem, he said the Centre has not released Rs 1,290 crore due to the state and released only Rs 65 crore.
On rhino poaching, Gogoi said the state government has submitted a proposal to the Centre for purchasing latest weapons and equipment like night vision tools.
He also said the Narendra Modi government is “crushing democracy” by imposing President’s Rule and toppling democratically elected governments in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh. “They (Centre) always talk about cooperative federalism. But in reality, they are doing the opposite. They are breaking all non-BJP governments by all sorts of tactics,” Gogoi said.
Regarding rising drug abuse in the state, the Chief Minister said that he has asked to form a task force to deal with the situation. ” We have to take a holistic approach and have to stop it at any cost,” he said. (PTI)
