Cong will romp home easily: Gogoi

Tarun Gogoi – the Chief Minister of Assam since 2001 – believes that the Congress is not threatened by any anti-incumbency wave in the current assembly-polls in the State and will do even better to comfortably retain power.

The 75-year-old is suffering from cardiac ailments and had a bypass surgery last year. But that did not stop him from campaigning for the party across the State.

 Gogoi, however, took time off to tell Deccan Herald that the Congress was relying on peace and development plank to blunt the blitzkrieg of opposition Asom Gana Parishad and BJP on the issue of corruption.

Excerpts:

Why do you think there is no anti-incumbency wave against Congress in Assam?

The Congress would have faced anti-incumbency wave, had our government not performed well in the past 10 years. Just compare our track records with that of the AGP from 1985-89 and 1996-2001. We inherited a crippled economy from the erstwhile AGP regime, but we brought it back on the growth path. We achieved a growth rate of eight per cent while it was just about two per cent during the AGP rule. The per-capita income grew from Rs 13962 in 2001 to Rs 29305 in 2010. We constructed 25000 black-top roads and 3000 concrete bridges. The AGP Government spent Rs 1400 crore for panchayat and rural development from 1996-2001, we spent Rs 14000 crore in the past 10 years. The government employees are now getting salaries regularly. We performed well in the health, agriculture and education sectors too.

The AGP and BJP are accusing your Government of being neck-deep in corruption. How would you like to react?

These are all false propaganda and I am sure they would cut no ice with the people of Assam. The State witnessed so many scams during the AGP rule – ranging from Letter of Credit scandal to shallow tube-well scam. We are in power for the past 10 years. Though the opposition parties talks about corruption, they could not bring any specific charge against any minister in my Government. I fail to understand how the BJP’s central leaders talk about corruption in Assam, whereas they just turn blind eye to Karnataka, where specific allegations of corruptions have been made against their Chief Minister there.

The AGP and BJP did not go for an alliance before the polls. Has this made the electoral battle a bit easier for the Congress?

If the Congress is going to have a landslide victory, it is because of its performance while in power in the past 10 years. Even if the AGP and BJP had openly fought the elections together, we would have won comfortably. I know that the AGP and BJP still have a secret understanding, which poses a grave threat to social fabric and law and order in Assam. But we are not bothered. The AGP’s rule was the darkest chapter in the history of Assam. People know that it is the Congress-led government, which brought into effect the Right To Information Act, which is now a useful tool to expose graft.

How would you like to respond to the opposition parties’ allegation that the Congress Government has been soft to the illegal migrants due to its political interests?

There is no truth in it. The Congress governments in the Centre and in the State are committed to stop influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh. Not only the barbed wire fences have been erected and surveillance has been stepped up along the border, but we have also taken up updating of the National Register of Citizens with March 21, 1971 as the cut-off date, in accordance with the 1985 Assam Accord between the Government and All Assam Students Union.

Will the peace-process with outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam influence the polls?

We have since 2001 been trying to restore peace in Assam. Our success could be measured by the fact that over 73 per cent of voters exercised their franchise in the first phase of polling, without any fear. We have entered into peace-processes with several militant organizations, including the ULFA. We are doing all these, because we want to ensure lasting peace in Assam, not for our political interests.What is noteworthy is that ULFA leader Paresh Barua, who has not joined the peace-process, has singled out the Congress and threatened to target our leaders and candidates. Despite all these, the doors are still open for Paresh Barua to join the peace process.

How many of the total 126 assembly seats are you expecting to win? Are you open to take support from All India United Democratic Front or Bodoland Peoople’s Front?

We will win enough seats to form the government of our own. However, although we could not strike a pre-poll deal with the BPF, they will be with us in government. And, as far as AIUDF is concerned, we are not asking for its support, but if it wants, it can extend support to our government.