GUWAHATI, April 9 � The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) today hit out at Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi claiming that the future of Assam would not be safe under a person like him. The regional party also alleged that Congress members were using unparliamentarily and abusive language to attack the Opposition in the poll campaigns.
Talking to media persons here today, AGP general secretary Hitendra Nath Goswami said that the Congress was never serious in eradicating corruption and that is why the UPA Government is yet to take any initiative to bring back the black money kept in foreign banks. He said that the overwhelming response of the youths to the anti-corruption campaign by Anna Hazare is a positive sign for the country.
Launching an attack on the Chief Minister, the AGP leader said that Gogoi had been encouraging corruption by his ministers and officers by his actions. He said that Gogoi even went to the extent of supporting corruption in election meetings in Jorhat and Sivasagar.
Goswami pointed out that the Chief Minister also hoodwinked the people of Assam on his own assets. In the affidavit he submitted before the 2001 polls, Gogoi claimed that his total asset was valued at Rs 90 lakh while in January this year, he claimed that his assets were valued at Rs 54 lakh. But in his affidavit before the Election Commission this time, he declared that the value of his assets were valued at Rs 4 crore, Goswami pointed out. He also revealed that the value of Gogoi's house in Delhi was shown as Rs 18 lakh in 2006, Rs 31 lakh in January this year and Rs 1.50 crore now. This clearly proved that Gogoi was misleading the people of Assam and the Election Commission, Goswami pointed out.
Reacting to the Chief Minister's statement that the people of Assam would vote overwhelmingly for the Congress, Goswami said that if that is so, why senior leaders of the Congress, including Sonia Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh, were forced to visit Assam frequently to woo the voters. He said that the Congress has not been able to reply to the charges of corruption, its failure to deal with price rise, etc.
