GUWAHATI, Sept 22 - The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) today ridiculed the attempts made by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to malign the image of the Congress-led government in the State as an exercise to cover up the cases of massive corruption of the BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.
In a statement, signed by its vice president Ripun Bora, the APCC alleged that the BJP is also feverishly trying to divert public attention from the uproar over the attempts made by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to ensure a visa to IPL scamster Lalit Modi and the illegal transaction of several crores of rupees between Lalit Modi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje�s son, Dushyanta Singh, and the damage caused to the Army documents by VK Singh, the present Minister of State for External Affairs, while he was the Chief of the Army.
Moreover, the BJP was alleging till the other day that Himanta Biswa Sarma was involved in the Rs 1,000-crore Dima Hasao Autonomous Council scam, Saradha scam and Louis Berger scam. But today, it has welcomed Sarma into its fold.
Significantly, BJP MP Bijoya Chakravorty alleged during the sit-in demonstration of her party in the city that the Congress has been plagued by dissidence for the past four years and hence, it has failed to undertake any development work. But ironically, her party has accorded a red carpet welcome to the leader of the Congress dissidents, said the APCC.
The APCC has also alleged that the BJP has been trying to provoke ethnic clashes in the State, which the Congress-led government in the State has been able to prevent with its prompt actions since the 2012 BTAD clashes.
It also claimed that during the Congress rule, the State witnessed significant development in the construction of roads and bridges, schools and hospital buildings, flyovers, new medical and engineering colleges, new universities, model hospitals, health sub-centres, etc.
The 14-year Congress rule in the State has also resulted in the rise in the per capita income from Rs 13,000 in 2001 to Rs 50,000 today, claimed the APCC.