GUWAHATI: Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera took his criticism of the BJP to theatrical lengths on Wednesday, staging a mock "lie detector test" at a press conference in Guwahati to highlight what he called a decade of broken promises in Assam.
Khera, who chairs the Media Department of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), addressed the media at Rajiv Bhawan with a prop lie detector machine set up on the table before him.
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Each time Khera posed a question about BJP's election manifesto or the Chief Minister's past commitments, a red light flashed on the device — which he used as a theatrical cue to allege that the ruling party had misled voters repeatedly.
The central target of his attack was the BJP's repeated but unfulfilled promise to include six communities in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list — a commitment Khera said had vanished from the party's latest manifesto entirely.
"This promise has been made in election after election," Khera alleged. "It remains unfulfilled."
Khera ran through a list of governance issues, levelling pointed allegations against the state government on multiple fronts.
On floods: He said Assam continues to suffer devastating floods each year, affecting between 8 and 10 lakh people, with large tracts of land lost to erosion annually — despite repeated BJP promises of a "flood-free Assam."
On employment: Khera claimed only 19% of people in Assam hold stable salaried jobs, with urban unemployment hovering around 25%. He also accused the government of failing to raise wages for tea garden workers despite promises made over the past ten years.
On healthcare: He alleged a critical shortage of medical professionals in the state, citing figures of up to 97% shortage of surgeons and 94% shortage of doctors.
Khera also took on the BJP over illegal immigration, comparing deportation figures from the tenure of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with those under the current government — alleging a sharp drop in action despite aggressive rhetoric on the issue.
He reiterated the Congress party's position that the 1971 cut-off date under the Assam Accord should be implemented to address the issue.
Khera additionally raised questions about what he described as disproportionate growth in the assets of spouses of several BJP leaders, calling for greater transparency and accountability from those in power.
Turning to other matters, Khera demanded justice in the case surrounding late Assamese singer Zubeen Garg, alleging that a weak charge sheet had allowed key accused individuals to benefit.
He also took a moment to pay tribute to former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on his birth anniversary, remembering his contributions to the state.