Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi (L) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Credit: PTI Photos
Majuli (Assam): Hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised the Congress for allegedly neglecting Assam, state party chief Gaurav Gogoi on Saturday hit back, claiming that the prime minister’s report card in the Northeast was "extremely poor" across sectors.
Gogoi, who is also the Deputy Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, slammed the ruling party, saying that public sector undertakings are shutting their shops one after another during the present government's regime.
Earlier in the day, Modi accused the Congress of ignoring Assam and the Northeast during its rule and asserted that the BJP-led government was correcting mistakes made by the opposition party over decades.
"Modi's report card as PM is extremely poor in almost every sector in Assam and the Northeast, including industrial development, addressing unemployment issues and generation of employment," he told reporters here.
Over the past 11 years, public sector undertakings in Assam have been shut down one after another, Gogoi claimed.
"Although the BJP has been beating drums over the semiconductor project at Jagiroad, it has been set up only after shutting down a paper mill. Real industrial development would have taken place had the paper mill continued and the new project been set up at another location," he said.
With an investment of Rs 27,000 crore, the upcoming facility of Tata Electronics' Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) is expected to produce up to 48 million semiconductor chips per day, employing advanced packaging technologies like flip chip and Integrated System in Package (ISIP).
The PM, who is on a two-day tour to Assam, will on Sunday lay the foundation stone for a Rs 10,600-crore brownfield ammonia-urea plant at Namrup in Dibrugarh district, giving a fillip to the fertiliser requirement of the entire region.
Commenting on this, Gogoi said, "The second unit of the Namrup fertiliser plant was shut down in 2020. The fourth unit should have been commissioned long ago. As early as 2014, the central government had shown dreams to the people of Assam regarding the fourth unit, but only now has work begun." Tea gardens of the Assam Tea Corporation have been sold off one after another, while nearly 8,000 government schools have been closed across the state, he added.
"At present, only a handful of people close to CM Himanta Biswa Sarma are enjoying benefits in Assam. From Dispur to Delhi, the BJP government’s policy has been to shut down indigenous and public sector industries, and hand over all work to a particular corporate house, thereby creating monopolies," Gogoi alleged.
As a result, the state and the country have been deprived of the kind of economic progress that should have taken place on the ground, he added.
Modi started his trip by inaugurating a new terminal at Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport (LGBIA), developed at a cost of Rs 4,000 crore by Guwahati International Airport Ltd, which is a group firm of the Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL).
Replying to a question on erosion in the world's largest river island Majuli, Gogoi said the PM should pay serious attention to the issue affecting the centre of Vaishnavite culture.
"When Manmohan Singh was PM, Assam received substantial support for infrastructure development. Major projects like the Bogibeel bridge were given national project status and adequate financial assistance. The Silchar–Lumding railway expansion was also granted national project status.
"What has the present central government done? Even funds meant for flood and erosion control are not being released on time," he claimed.
The APCC president demanded publication of a 'white paper' detailing how much money the BJP-led central government has released for flood and erosion control in Assam, and how much has been allocated to other states.
Reacting to the recent political situation in Bangladesh, Gogoi strongly condemned the brutal killing of a Hindu youth, who was beaten to death and set on fire.
"Due to the failure of the Modi government's foreign policy, anti-India forces have once again gained strength in what was once a friendly nation. India should have set an example for the world in upholding democracy and human rights. But we have failed to do so," he alleged.
Whether it is Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Maldives or Sri Lanka, all neighbouring countries are drifting away from India, the Congress MP claimed.
"Earlier, India had influence over these nations. Today, India has virtually no influence," he added.
Regarding the upcoming Assam assembly elections, Gogoi said that this time the people will give a fitting reply to those who mock them and the Congress has reached out to the people through its programme 'Raijor Padulit Raijor Congress'.
"We are committed to building an ideal Assam as envisioned by the people -- quality higher education for youths, a healthy social environment for rural women, villages free from liquor shops and drug trade, and adequate playgrounds for sportspersons. We are determined to work towards such an ideal Assam," he remarked.