STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The BJP has announced that it will leave one winnable seat each to AGP and UPPL during the Lok Sabha elections in Assam.
It was also stated that BJP is enlisting the support of its erstwhile ally BPF to take forward the matter of the region's development, taking account the development wave that has been unleashed by PM Modi.
The decisions were said to have been taken during a meeting of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and state BJP president Bhabesh Kalita with BJP president JP Nadda in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The meet was said to have centred around the BJP's strategy in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in the state next year. The trio is also said to have discussed the matter of strengthening the organisational base of the saffron party. It was in this regard that Bhabesh Kalita announced the decision to leave aside one seat each to AGP and UPPL in which they are sure to win.
In a related development, the state BJP took the Assam Congress to task for accusing it of neglecting the tribal people in the state.
A day after the APCC raised questions on development of tribal people in the state, the state BJP counterattacked, alleging that autonomous councils were the hotbeds of corruption during Congress rule.
For a long time during Congress' rule, there was no disciplined financial system in place, due to which corruption took place and development initiatives were as failure, the BJP alleged. The corruption also led to the misuse of funds allocated to the autonomous councils, including those for the tribal people, BJP spokesperson Pankaj Borbora said in a statement to the press.
However, he said the autonomous councils, formed under the provisions of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, were now governed by disciplined financial rules and that elections to these councils have been held in a democratic manner. They have also proceeded to utilize the funds now being allocated by the central and state governments, he added.
Borbora also underlined the fact that CAG reports during the tenure of the Congress were filled with corruption indulged in by the Welfare of Plains Tribes and Other Backward Classes (WPT&OBC) department. But, during the BJP's time at the helm of affairs, the CAG reports speak of discipline among the tribal autonomous councils, which was a sure sign of development being made, he said. The BJP spokesperson stressed that the tribal people are getting a taste of development only under the BJP's tenure.
He retorted that the allegations of the Congress are baseless and figments of imagination.
It should be mentioned that the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) had alleged that the funds meant for the tribal people are not benefitting those that really need it and a spate of suicides in the state pointed to issues of poverty and deprivation to be behind them.
The BJP roundly refuted the allegations and took the attack to the Congress camp, accusing them of corruption and misuse of funds.
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