Padma award to Tarun Gogoi is an insult on Gogoi & Assam, says Rahul Gandhi

SIVASAGAR: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today said he was pained when the Centre tried to “insult” Tarun Gogoi awarding him the Padma in the same bracket with a Prime Minister’s Office bureaucrat “who’s only contribution to the nation was pleasing” Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Whenever I visited Assam, I learnt something or the other from Tarun Gogoi. He was my guru (teacher). It pained me when the Centre awarded him in the same bracket with a PMO official who could not match Gogoiji in any way. Assam was a divided society due to armed conflicts. Gogoiji dedicated all his life unifying the Assamese society. And, the bureaucrat is only a sycophant of PM Modi. I felt it was an insult on Assam and Tarun Gogoi,” Gandhi said addressing a rally at Boarding Field here.

Gogoi was awarded the Padma Bhushan posthumously this year. Gandhi was apparently referring to IAS officer Nripendra Mishra who was also among the 10 awardees this time.

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Taking a dig at the Modi government’s alleged favouritism towards industrialists Adani and Ambanis, he said it was an extension of the government ‘Hum-Do-Hamare-Do’ (We two and our two) system of governance with the addition “Aur Hamare Do” (our two more) referring to Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and fiancne minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Claiming that the earlier Congress governments had given everything to Assam, the Centre was presently looting everything from Assam to enrich the Gujarati traders.

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He said the Modi government was always on the lookout to find ways only to enrich the two Gujarati industrialists. “With demonetisation, Modi looted the poor people and farmers. All small industries were forced to down shutters one after another that helped the growth of the ‘Hamare Do’. He did not stop there. He went on to implement an erratic GST only to rob people and waive loans of ‘Hamare Do’ on the pretext of aiding COVID-19 recovery,” Gandhi explained.

About the privatisation of Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi International Airport in Guwahati, Gandhi said: "Who got the deal? It is Adani Group, right? It's nothing! They will take everything away from Assam if the present 'Aur Hamare Do' continues to rule Assam!"

Alleging that the Centre was running the Assam government with “remote control”, he said: “Remote control can run a TV set, but not a government. Your government is run by people sitting in Delhi and Gujarat with remote controls. And, that is why Assam is today looted by the Gujaratis.”