Bereft of any package, Modi speech frustrated people: APCC

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Jan 19: The Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) has said that Prime Minister rendra Modi has dashed cold water on the hopes and aspirations of the people of the State with his speech which is bereft of any package for them.

In a statement issued to the press today, APCC vice president Ripun Bora said: “The people of the State were waiting to hear a package for the development of Assam from the Prime Minister. Modi has, however, frustrated them by making no announcement of any package for the State. The people in the BTAD were also waiting to hear a package from the Prime Minister. It was with the hope of a Rs 1,000-crore package, the BPF did agree to stitch a tie-up with the BJP. Now the people of the BTAD are a frustrated lot. They feel that Modi has sold sour mango to them yet again.”

On 90:10 funding pattern and special category state issues, Bora said: “It wasn’t former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who stripped Assam of its 90:10 funding pattern and the special category status. It’s Prime Minister rendra Modi, who speaks on the development of Assam, robbed the State of such facilities. Thus Modi has no right to ask Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to give details of their performance reports. When Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister the Bongaigaon Thermal Power Plant was modernized, Broad Gauge Railway line up to Silchar, Dhola-Sadiya bridge over the Brahmaputra, the second bridge over the Brahmaputra at Saraighat, and works of three other bridges over the Brahmaputra were started. Had there been no development works during the 15-year Gogoi rule in Assam, how come the per capita income in Assam rose to Rs 60,000 now from Rs 13,000?” Bora questioned: “Is the Prime Minister aware of facts like a survey by India Today placing Assam and its Chief Minister Tarun Googi on top on black-topped roads, the number of RCC bridges and development of infrastructure? It was barely two months back that Union Home Minister Rajth Singh presented the Chief Minister for such feats. Modi was on record making the promise of providing jobs two crore youths yearly. Can he say how many youths from Assam have been given jobs by him in the past one year and nine months?”