By Express News Service
GUWAHATI: The Congress on Sunday came out with a 12-point “chargesheet” against Assam’s BJP-led government for its alleged failure on different fronts.
The Congress said before coming to power, BJP had promised to protect “jati” (community), “mati” (land) “bheti” (foundation) but instead imposed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) on the people.
The CAA is posing a threat to the language, culture and identity of the people of Assam. It is giving a red carpet welcome to illegal migrants to settle in the state. The saffron brigade has failed to implement the Assam Accord in letter and spirit, the Congress alleged.
The party slammed the BJP for “stalling” the process of National Register of Citizens. It said as the process has been stalled, it was affecting the genuine citizens left out of the register.
“Before the 2016 Assembly elections, the BJP had promised to provide employment to 5 lakh unemployed every year. Like other promises, the BJP failed to deliver on this promise too. There are around 3 lakh posts lying vacant in different departments and the number of unemployed in the state has reached 40 lakh,” Congress said.
The party highlighted some recruitment scams. In the Assam Police sub-inspector recruitment scam, senior serving and retired police officers were arrested. The rot has set in deep during the BJP’s tenure, the Congress alleged.
“The BJP has been selling our prized resources, from oil fields to the Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport to corporate houses that are close to the Modi regime,” the party said.
The Congress claimed there has been a mushrooming of syndicates – from essentials like fruits, vegetables, fish and eggs to coal and cattle. It also pilloried the BJP on the issues of price rise and plight of tea workers.
“The BJP government has failed to increase the daily wage of tea workers despite a promise to raise it to Rs 351. The jugglery used by the Sarbananda Sonowal government to increase Rs 50 for the interim period has failed, with tea companies taking the government to court for not adhering to regulations. The promise to provide Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to over one hundred sub-tribes of the Adivasi tea community was also not kept by the BJP,” the Congress said.
It alleged the BJP backtracked on the promise of providing ST status to six tribes and failed to solve the flood and erosion problem or declare it a national problem, despite promises made from time to time.
“PM Modi had said here in 2014 that after May 16, all Bangladeshis will have to leave bag and baggage. The BJP had also stated that there were 50 lakh Bangladeshis in Assam. That this was a false statement is made apparent by the figures of the Home Ministry, according to which, 989 people in 2014, 474 in 2015, 308 in 2016 and 51 persons in 2017 were expelled as Bangladeshis. The number has further dwindled to 50 Bangladeshis pushed out of the country in 2018 and 2019. The numbers prove how many illegal migrants the Modi government has actually deported,” the Congress said.
The last point of the chargesheet was on the BJP’s Vision Document that promised the state’s farmers a minimum support price for paddy.
“But only 1% of the total paddy produced was procured at that price. Farmers will soon have to protest on the roads for not getting proper prices. The Farm Acts passed by the BJP has farmers across the country protesting against the unfair legislations,” the Congress said.
