‘Don’t want to see Union ministers who block funds’

Bogged down by frequent visit of BJP ministers, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi here on Sunday continued his tirade against the union ministers and said that people of Assam don’t want to see the face of union ministers.

“People of Assam don’t get influenced by seeing the faces of union ministers like Sushma Swaraj or Smriti Irani, they want to see the actions,” he said while accusing the central government of curtailing fund for welfare schemes.

Pointing out that Ms Irani is visiting Assam but not providing funds to set up Navodya Vidyalaya in the state, Mr Gogoi said, “We don’t need the visit of central ministers. Instead they should send funds for development.”

Mr Gogoi’s remark came a day after the union minister Ms Swaraj had a one to one meeting with leading industrialists, technocrats and members of civil society in a hotel on Saturday. The Assam BJP had hosted an informal get-together with union minister Ms Swaraj.

The external affairs minister was here on her way to Silchar, where she addressed a huge public rally on Sunday and launched the election campaign of the party for the 2016 Assembly elections.

Union minister for sports and youth affairs Sarbananda Sonowal, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav and others accompanied her.

There are 15 Assembly segments across the three districts of Barak Valley.