Where was PM when Assam was rocked by floods, anti-CAA protests, asks Priyanka
Vadra was referring to Modi’s speech at Chabua where he talked about the ‘toolkit’ used to destroy the reputation of Assam tea. The toolkit, on farmers’ protests in India, first shared on social media by Greta Thunberg last month was shared on Twitter by 22-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi of neglecting Assam when the state was reeling under floods and when the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests were taking place.
“During his address in Assam on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about how anguished he was because of a tweet by a 22-year-old girl. He accused Congress of conspiring to end (Assam’s) tea industry. The PM said he was sad that Congress posted two wrong photos on our social media handles,” said Vadra addressing an election rally at Jorhat in Upper Assam.
Vadra was referring to Modi’s speech at Chabua where he talked about the ‘toolkit’ used to destroy the reputation of Assam tea. The toolkit, on farmers’ protests in India, first shared on social media by Swedish environment campaigner Greta Thunberg last month was shared on Twitter by 22-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi.
“The PM was sad because of a tweet by a 22-year-old girl. But why wasn’t he sad when Assam was affected by floods? Why wasn’t the PM sad when the anti-CAA protests were taking place in Assam and the state was on fire? Why didn’t he come and face you at that time? Why didn’t he express sadness at that time? Why wasn’t he sad when all the promises made by him during the last polls were not fulfilled?” questioned the Congress leader.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who had visited a tea garden during her last visit to Assam asked Prime Minister Modi whether he had ever visited a tea garden. “Has he ever met my sisters who work there? Has he seen the fingers of those women that have become hard due to work and plucking tea leaves? Doesn’t he feel sad that despite his earlier promise of increasing daily wages of tea garden workers to ₹350, he hasn’t fulfilled it yet?,” questioned Vadra.
She accused the BJP of not fulfilling its 2016 promise of creating 2.5 million jobs, protecting the ‘jati-mati-bheti’ (community-land-base) of Assam, not implementing Clause-6 of the Assam Accord (which assured safeguards for Assamese people), neglecting workers of tea gardens, indulging in employment scams etc.
“You were told that you will have a chief minister from the state and the government would be run from Assam. But right now, the state has two chief ministers. The Assam government is run from Delhi,” said Vadra accusing the BJP of trying to transfer Assam’s resources to few industrialists from outside the state.
“Instead of taking two-wheelers given by the state government, you should seek jobs. This election is about your self-respect,” she added.
Vadra spoke about the 5 guarantees the Congress is assuring voters in Assam. They are non-implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Assam, ₹2000 every month to housewives, 200 units of free electricity to all households, increase in daily wages of tea garden workers to ₹365 and creation of 5 lakh government jobs. The Congress leader addressed two more poll rallies in Nazira and Khumtai.
Polling for 126 assembly seats in Assam will take place in three phases on March 27 (47 seats), April 1 (39 seats) and April 6 (40 seats).
