Assam Assembly elections: Tarun Gogoi confident that Congress will win

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has sounded confident that the Congress will win in the just concluded Assembly elections and form the government and he will be the Chief Minister for the straight fourth time. Thanking party workers at a meeting here for their hard work during electioneering, Gogoi said he would remain the MLA of Titabor and Chief Minister of Assam for the fourth term.

“Without anybody’s help we will be able to form the government. During the first phase polls (April 4) we will get three to four seats less than earlier years, but from the second phase (April 11), in the lower Assam side we will get maximum, which will equalise the seats which we will lose in upper Assam,” Gogoi said.

“In 1978 the Janata Party came to power, but could not show any development, then in 1986 AGP came to power for two terms, but could not perform well and instead brought all kinds of scams and other abnormal activities in the state,” he said speaking about the non-Congress governments in the state.

“When in 2001 we came to power we showed the path of development which has brought in sea change today,” he said.

On AGP’s reaction to his accusation that its leaders in the Assam Movement had links with the RSS, Gogoi told reporters that AGP itself proved the links after having tie ups with BJP before the elections.

“AGP need not worry now as they have already proved it and why do they have to react and be afraid for the link with RSS. Assam Movement was an agitation which was then dictated by BJP leaders like Atal Behari Vajpayee, L K Advani and others,” the Chief Minister alleged.

“The people of Assam voted for the AGP in 1986 and in again 1996, but the AGP-BJP failed. So people voted for the Congress and we came to power in 2001 for three consecutive terms as the people of Assam have seen the change and development we had brought,” Gogoi added.