Sonowal no challenge, says Tarun Gogoi

Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said here on Monday said that his fight is with the Modi government at the Centre, not BJP chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal. Bogged down by attacks from all corners in the run-up to the 2016 Assembly elections, Mr Gogoi told reporters that Mr Sonowal, despite being a Union minister, doesn’t have authority to disburse the funds to the state of his own department. “Tell me what Mr Sonowal has done for the state; forget state, let me know what has he been able to do for his own constituency,” said Mr Gogoi while outright rejecting the claims of the BJP forming the government in the state.

“I am confident that the Congress will form the government again,” Mr Gogoi said, adding, “If the BJP is so confident of forming the government, why are they running behind the BPF and the AGP for an alliance Even they are looking for support of All-Assam Students Union, a student organisation. It reflects how fake their Mission 84 is.”

The Assam BJP had launched Mission 84 campaign on social media, implying that it has been targeting 84 out of 126 Assembly seats in the elections.

Earlier, Mr Gogoi presented a vote-on-account in the state Assembly to run the government till the final budget is presented by a new government in April.

The four-day-long Assembly session started on Monday with a united Opposition forcing Assam governor P.B. Acharya to curtail his speech on the opening day of the Budget Session and leave the Assembly amid disruptions over the government’s performance in the poll-bound state.

As soon as the Governor started his speech by saying the state government’s “collective efforts would take the state of Assam forward in every aspect”, the AIUDF members started slogan shouting.

Immediately afterwards, AGP and BJP members also joined AIUDF and started shouting against the state government.

Mr. Acharya fast-forwarded to the end of his 114-page speech and concluded his address to the House, which assembled to pass a Vote-on-Account Budget for the first six months of the next fiscal.