The United Opposition Forum of Assam has accused chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s family of being involved in “land scam”. In a document called ‘Chargesheet’, released on March 20, the forum levelled 60 allegations against the BJP-led alliance government and said that corruption peaked under the BJP rule – both at the state and the centre.
AICC general secretary and in-charge of Assam Jitendra Singh, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhupen Bora, senior party leaders Debabrata Saikia, Rakibul Hussain and Bharat Narah, MP Ajit Kumar Bhuyan, Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi, Assam Jatiya Parishad general secretary Jagadish Bhuyan, CPI leader Munin Mahanta were among those who released the document.
The document was prepared by the United Opposition Forum Assam, which was formed in the state with 16 parties in alignment with the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
Addressing the media, Jitendra Singh stated that corruption under the BJP governments in Delhi and Dispur has peaked. He warned that if the “dictatorial” BJP government is not removed, it would pose a grave threat to Indian democracy and the Constitution.
In Assam, 7,000 schools have been closed, number of wine shops has increased. The chief minister has made arrangements to ensure that there is never a shortage of liquor in the state, he added.
The document also talked about misdeeds and misrule of the BJP-led government and how the number of unemployed registered with the employment exchange has crossed over 32 lakh. Charging the ruling party of massive financial indiscipline, it also claimed that the state’s economy was in a mess and the state was under the burden of over one lakh crore.
In Assam, AAP, TMC and CPI(M) have put candidate in the seats where Congress have announced candidates. “We are in talks and things will be resolved. This is a matter within the family and it can be resolved within the us. If we cannot reach consensus there might be a friendly contest however efforts are on to resolve the issues,” Singh added on the seat sharing within the forum.
On being quizzed about Congress leaders joining BJP and vice-versa, AICC Assam in-charge Jitendra Singh said: “Those who leave Congress, the most commonly observed pattern was that they were being followed by the ED and IT and these methods were used to lure people into BJP. On the other hand, those who join Congress, come to us based on an ideology. Today, many senior leaders joined Congress.”
