GUWAHATI: Claiming that people are fed up with the corrupt BJP government, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi on April 12 said people have found some “relief and positivity” in the party’s campaign and it will be a victory of the people in Assam.
“People are volunteering. I have never seen so many volunteers. University professors are volunteering on our behalf. People are calling up on their own behalf. The traditional expenditure associated with the campaign seems to be redundant,” Gogoi said in an interview to GPlus.
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He said the Congress campaign has become a people’s campaign and it’s going to be people’s victory in Jorhat.
“The people are fed up with the corrupt government that only bullies and intimidates people, uses police to silence protestors. The excesses are brazen. People have found relief in our campaign, some positivity, something to look forward to. The margin doesn’t matter as long people win,” he said.
Asked why he opted for Jorhat, Gogoi said his traditional seat was Kaliabor, from where he contested in 2014 and 2019, but that seat, which was a Congress stronghold, no longer exists.
“After delimitation people of Jorhat wanted me to contest from Jorhat. Jorhat has been traditionally a seat of late BK Handique. He lost in 2014 and in 2019, Sushanta also lost. People of Jorhat wanted a strong candidate. They spoke to the AICC leadership. People of the old constituency also wanted me to continue to work for them..so I applied for all the three seats- Jorhat, Kaliabor and Nagaon. Jorhat is totally new for me. My father did not work here. Only as an MLA he worked in this district. I was mentally prepared to contest from any of the seats and the AICC found me fit for Jorhat,” he added.
Asked about the Ahom factor, Gogoi said his father’s politics was representing the aspirations of all communities of Assam - whether Ahoms, tea community, ST, SCs and that remains the focus of his politics.
“That remains my political ideology. My father was my political guru. I have learnt politics from him. I try and understand the aspirations of each and every community and try and reflect them in my work and Parliament. In Kaliabor, I represented all sections. I spoke on behalf of Gorkhas which is not a majority community. Whether they are minority or majority, I try to understand the aspirations of all communities and that is why may be I fit in well with the Congress ideology,” he said.
Describing the BJP as a tax haven, Gogoi said the saffron party has become better than Switzerland for tax defaulters and those who have black money.
“We have heard of Seychelles and Switzerland. But BJP seems to be better than them. They are using the law enforcement agencies to recruit people. The party has become a haven for criminals and those having income tax investigations,” he asserted.
Asked about the failure of the INDI Alliance in Assam, he said people of Assam understand the importance of every seat. Referring to the Left and Congress putting up candidates in Barpeta, Gogoi said in Kerala too the Left and Congress fight against each other, but in Bengal they are in alliance. Every state has different dynamics and people understand it, he said.
Gaurav Gogoi, however, did not comment on the number of seats the Congress was looking at in Assam.
“First let me finish with the campaign here. After that I can tell you about the rest,” Gogoi added.