NEW DELHI, Jan 22 - Launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks against the ruling Congress party�s performance in Assam, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said that he is going to table a White Paper on his government�s performance during the last 15 years.
Addressing a �Meet the Press� programme organised by the Press Club of India here, the Chief Minister was unsparing in his attack on Modi, targeting him for his recent remarks against former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. Gogoi replied to a volley of questions ranging from his stand on alliance to the reasons behind the Congress�s decision to project him yet again.
�You are asking me for a White Paper on 15 years� performance. Please give your White Paper. I will give you all details about what I have done for my own State. My figures will speak. The number of flights from Delhi to Guwahati will prove my case. Even the awards given by the Government of India will speak for itself,� said an aggressive Gogoi.
�We want to give a White Paper and we also want that Modi, who is also responsible to the people of Assam, does the same. I am definitely accountable to the people, but Modi is also accountable to the people of Assam because they have also voted for him,� Gogoi maintained.
�I am going to submit facts and figures through a White Paper on the developments that have taken place Then, I am going to ask the BJP to give their own records. The records will tell,� Gogoi said.
Replying to questions about alliance, the Chief Minister said, �I am going alone; there is no mahajot (grand alliance), but all along I have been talking of a maha (grand) understanding among all parties who are opposed to the communal party. I want to see that nobody votes for the BJP.�
Stating that there are some alliance proposals with the Congress, Gogoi maintained that the decision to go it alone was the party�s. �It is only our decision to go it alone. The impression that all Bodos are with the BJP is wrong. Not all Bodos are with them, many of them are with us also,� he claimed. �There is anti-incumbency to some extent, but my development work will override,� Gogoi stressed.
�Anti-incumbency arises when there is a failure in fulfilling promises. But if the people see the progress of the State, and if they have complete confidence in the leadership, then it is definitely very easy to overcome anti-incumbency,� the Chief Minister explained.
Understanding means no seat sharing. �What I mean by alliance is no seat sharing, but the aim should be to defeat the BJP,� he said. The BJP has lost all elections it contested lately because the people have lost confidence in it, he added.
�In fact, the entire North-east has lost confidence in the BJP because benefits like Special Status and NEIIPP have been suspended, and the 90:10 funding pattern has been discontinued,� Gogoi countered.
The Prime Minister promised that no land would be handed over to Bangladesh and then he promised foreigners would be sent away from the State. Then he promised that they would not allow the construction of the Subansiri dam, he further recalled.
�Instead of giving more incentives, Modi has denied what we have been getting. In that manner he wants to take Assam to the level of development of Gujarat,� Gogoi ridiculed.
�I am not talking about Hindu Bengalis only, but refugees belonging to all religions. �What the BJP Government did was to issue a notification, but no legislation. Why have they not brought any legislation and only issued a notification?� Gogoi asked.
�In every election, my opponents always raise the issue of foreigners. But the moment they come to power, they forget everything,� he said.
�There is a vast difference between Dr Manmohan Singh�s contribution and Modi�s. In the last 15 years, the insurgency situation has also changed. Today, almost all insurgent groups have been brought to the negotiating table and whose credit is that? To bring peace to the State, which was full of insurgency and ethnic clashes, it was Dr Manmohan Singh�s contribution,� the Chief Minister added.
