GUWAHATI, Dec 21 � Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta today demanded President�s rule in the State to ensure free and fair Assembly polls in the State.
Addressing a press meet today, Mahanta expressed his apprehension that with the Tarun Gogoi-led government in State�s power, the 2011 Assembly elections cannot be held in a fair and democratic way.
�Misuse of power by the ruling government is evident from the wide-scale corruption and some arbitrary decisions taken by the government against the people�s will. Moreover, there are enough instances of criminalization of politics during the Congress rule in the State.
�President of India has some special powers. She can prevent misuse of power during the Assembly elections exercising those powers to enable the people of the State elect a government of their choice,� Mahanta said.
Urging also the Prime Minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi to take action against the present State government for its involvement in wide scale corruption, Mahanta said that the Congress high command should prove the genuineness of its much hyped �zero tolerance to corruption� stand.
Condemning the Union government's attitude towards the security of the Northeastern States, Mahanta said that exposures made by Wikileakes have made it evident that terror in the Northeastern State is not a priority of the Union government.
Referring to the multi-crore rupee scam in the NC Hills district and the AG�s special audit report on financial anomalies in the eight departments of the autonomous council, Mahanta reiterated AGP�s demand for conducting similar audits in all the departments of the State government and all the autonomous councils.
�Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and his ministers have left no stone unturned to mislead people by raising some irrelevant issues and making some sweeping comments. But the truth is there for all to see,� he said.
He also alleged that the State Government has been indulging in manipulations to dilute the magnitude of the NC Hills scam. This is evident from the latest report that suggests that the Chief Secretary of the State has found release of an excess amount of only Rs 33.03 lakh to the NC Hills Autonomous Council. It needs mention here that the spokesman of the State Government had earlier claimed that the Opposition would become speechless with the Chief Secretary�s report on the issue.
However, the AG�s special audit of the Autonomous Council fund had however, suggested that an excess amount of Rs 1146.59 lakh was released to the Autonomous Council, Mahanta said.
