Will probe all graft cases in Assam: Shah

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, April 9: Cornered at a press conference over alleged corruption cases linked to Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP tiol president Amit Shah today while desisting from giving a clean chit to the former Congress minister, asserted that all cases of corruption in the State will be probed.

Shah, however, tried to shield Sarma by putting the onus of the murky affairs in the State government on the Chief Minister.

"The responsibility of preventing corruption or malpractice in a government is vested on the chief minister. Dr Sarma was only a minister in the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government in the State before coming over to the BJP last year. Dr Sarma has explained to us how corruption was being done under the Congress government," Shah told a press conference here.

 "The chief minister is the head of the government and it is his responsibility to stop corruption," he added, terming Chief Minister Gogoi as 'one of the most corrupt persons'.

When pointed out that the BJP had two years back branded Sarma as one of the corrupt faces of the Congress, the BJP tiol president refused to make any comment and tried to chastise media personnel for posing such a question.

Shah, meanwhile, reiterated the BJP's commitment towards sealing the porous India-Bangladesh border and said his party, within three months of coming to power, would prepare a plan of action to address the issue of illegal migration once and for all. He also asserted that protection of identity and culture of the indigenous people will also be a priority for his party.

"The BJP is committed to seal the India-Bangladesh border. We are going to seal the border as soon as possible. The execution of the land swap deal between the two countries has already eased the process," he said.

On deportation of illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators living in Assam, he said: "Our priority is to seal the border so that we can stop the infiltration."

Shah accused the Congress government in Assam of not being concerned about the issue of infiltration as the infiltrators are its "vote banks". "Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had once said there is not a single Bangladeshi in Assam. The statement of the chief minister of a state indicates its government's attitude towards an issue," he said.

Shah added that the government will abide by and implement the Assam Accord of 1985 in letter and spirit if voted to power here.

"This is a defining election not just for Assam but the entire Northeast, as its result will determine whether the region marches together with the rest of the country on the ladder of development or is left behind," he added.