GUWAHATI: Taking a dig at MLA Akhil Gogoi, Assam Water Resource Minister Pijush Hazarika on Friday said that Gogoi wasn't behind bars rather he was enjoying the UP-Bihar style VIP imprisonment for over a year.
Talking to the media, the Minister said that he has never seen this kind of VIP treatment given to prisoners in the state. He accused the MLA of partying and conducting meetings in 'jail' through of -the-record arrangements.
"How is it possible for an accused to spend month after month in a VIP cabin of a hospital when there was such chaos for cabins due to the pandemic? I am sure even the common public can make out some kind of ", said the Minister.
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"I don't know how was it done but I am sure that some kind of internal arrangement made for him", he added.
Commenting on Gogoi's victory in the Assembly polls, Hazarika said, "The day after he won the polls, his nameplate was added on an MLA hostel making it his official address. However, till then no official allotment was made. If I had done the same thing, It would have become a big controversy".
He further condemned Gogoi's act of accusing media personnel of not giving him enough coverage.
"Is he Assam's Shahrukh Khan or Amitabh Bacchan that he has to be in the limelight all the time?', said the Minister in a sarcastic tone.
Commenting on Gogoi's victory in the Assembly polls, Hazarika said that it is not a big deal. "There can be anomalies sometimes", he said.
"He conspired to defeat me twice but I won both the times", added Hazarika.
Stressing that the war between him and Gogoiis till on, the Minister said, " We will face again, and I will win yet again!"
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court has discharged Akhil Gogoi from the remaining Chandmari Police Station case after one and a half years of being in jail.
Akhil Gogoi was arrested in December 2019 from Jorhat under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, (UAPA) for his alleged role in violent anti-CAA protests and probable nexus with the Maoists based on two cases filed in Chabua and Chandmari Police Stations.