Chaygaon (Assam), Jul 16 : Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday took a jibe at Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, claiming that the grand old party had to lend its member so that the BJP could form a government in the state.
“The man who ran away from the Congress is now the chief minister of Assam,” Kharge said, addressing a party workers’ meet during a day-long trip to the state.
Sarma was a minister in the Congress government in Assam before he switched to the BJP in 2015.
Alleging that the current BJP dispensation in the state is indulging in corruption, Kharge said, “Those who have wronged people will be sent to jail. They should repair prisons now, as they will have to stay there.”
He claimed that people in Assam were being “threatened in the garb of detecting illegal immigrants”, and would teach a lesson to the BJP-led government in next year’s election.
On eviction drives in Assam, Kharge said that if the Congress forms a government in the state, it will rebuild the houses and pay compensation to those affected by such an action by the BJP dispensation.
He also claimed that the BJP government could apply tactics like voter list revision, delimitation of constituencies against the Congress in Assam, and urged the party members to be vigilant to defeat such attempts.
Kharge said that if the Congress is voted to power, it will guarantee education for children, jobs for youth in Assam and a maximum wage for tea garden workers.
He also claimed that the Dalits and people belonging to SC, ST and OBC communities have to be on alert, or else their reservations would be “taken away” by the BJP government at the Centre.
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kharge said, “Modi visited five countries in five days, but he could not find two hours to come to strife-torn Manipur.”
He further said the people have to come together to ‘save’ the Constitution.
“The Constitution is the basis of our democracy. RSS, BJP are trying to change it,” he claimed. (PTI)
