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No further division of Assam, asserts Gogoi

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Nov 20 � Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today asserted that he is against further division of the State. He also announced that the state Government would bring a legislation to keep 30 percent of Government jobs reserved for people of rural areas.

Addressing a meeting of the elected representatives of the Panchayats and Municipalities belonging to the Congress in the Rabindra Bhawan here today, Gogoi said that instead of division of the State, he is keen on creating a greater Assam with all round development of all sections of people within the geographical boundary of the State.

The Chief Minister took the opportunity to launch a scathing attack on the AGP and BJP and said that the AGP�s tenure in power was the darkest period in the history of Assam. He said that the AGP and BJP stopped employment generation in Assam as the AGP Government signed a memorandum of understanding with the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre to stop appointments in Government departments. The former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta also did not oppose the demand of the NSCN for creation of Greater Nagalim by including areas of Assam, Gogoi alleged.

Gogoi alleged that the BJP leaders visit Assam only during the elections but they never visit the State whenever the State is in trouble. The BJP is also adopting double standard on the issue of construction of the Subansiri project. BJP leader Rajnath Singh recently opposed the project, which was started during the tenure of the NDA Government, he added.

The Chief Minister said that the Congress was not against construction of dams, but at the same time, he asserted that his party would never go against the interests of Assam. He said that Assam needs electricity for industrialization, but the interests of Assam would be taken care of while giving green signal for commissioning of any dam project. He said that the Subansiri project was taken away from the Brahmaputra Board and given to NHPC in the year 2000 when Prafulla Kumar Mahanta was the Chief Minister and NDA was in power in the Centre. But Mahanta did not oppose the same at that time and only now he is opposing the project, he said.

Gogoi further alleged that the AGP was formed with foreigners� issue as the main plank, but during its two tenures in power, the party failed to do anything, while, the NDA Government also failed to take any effective step against the problem. Only Congress took effective steps to seal the international border, he added.

The Chief Minister also appealed to all Congress men to make the people aware of the welfare schemes of the government.

The meeting was also addressed by APCC president Bhubaneswar Kalita, Ministers Bharat Chandra Narah, Pramila Rani Brahma, Bhumidhar Barman, Ajanta Neog, Dr Nazrul Islam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Rockybul Hussain and others.

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