GUWAHATI, July 11 � Hinting that he would act tough on dissidents, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said that no one had the right to question the Congress party high command, and that all concerned must abide by the high command�s decision over their grievances.
Gogoi, who was addressing the media, said this when asked to comment on the reported statement made by Border Area Development Minister Siddique Ahmed, who warned of a dharna in front of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi�s residence over the demands of the dissident camp in the State Congress.
�He (Siddique Ahmed) does not have a Congress background and he even helped the AIUDF candidate in the Lok Sabha polls. If necessary, I will take action against him. No one has the right to question the high command,� Gogoi said.
Asserting that the high command�s decision would be final and binding, Gogoi said both the factions of the State Congress must abide by the decision it took. �The decision may or may not go in favour of us, but we should not complain,� he said.
Criticising the Union Budget of the BJP Government at the Centre, the Chief Minister termed it as a �corporate budget � that had nothing for the common man. In the context of Assam, he said the Budget had nothing substantial in terms of new projects or initiatives, and, therefore, had fallen well short of addressing the pressing concerns of the State.
�We expected a lot for Assam, as the voters here voted overwhelmingly for the BJP. The BJP had also promised much in their poll pledges but has failed to honour their promises. Burning problems of Assam such as floods and erosion, and unemployment, have been totally ignored, while agriculture and allied sectors have been given peanuts,� he said, adding that rural connectivity, food security and MGNREGA had also been totally ignored.
Gogoi was also critical of the PPP and FDI as stressed in the Budget, saying that a State like Assam had very little scope for the two. �We did not get any major educational institutes such as IIM. The Ganges has been given several thousand crores of rupees while the Brahmaputra, Assam�s lifeline, has received nothing which is a case of sheer discrimination.
