Guwahati, Jan 10 (IANS) The BJP Friday questioned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s contribution to Assam, the state which has been electing him to the Rajya Sabha since 1991.
Interacting with media persons here, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad accused Manmohan Singh of only using Assam for advancement of his political career and not doing anything for the state.
Prasad, who is deputy leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, arrived in Assam Thursday along with Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Gopinath Munde, party spokesperson Nirmala Sitaraman, party’s state in charge S.S. Ahluwalia and several other senior national leaders.
“We held a meeting of the party’s charge sheet committee last (Thursday) evening and met party leaders from all the northeastern states. As part of the charge sheet committee, we chose to visit Assam first because the prime minister is an MP from Assam,” said Prasad while adding that the party is going to file charge sheet against the UPA government first from Assam.
“Dr. Manmohan Singh has been an MP from Assam since 1991 and for last nine and half years he is the country’s prime minister. We want to ask him what has he done for Assam,” he asked, adding that no major industry had been set up in Assam since 1991.
“When Atal Behari Vajpayee was the prime minister he created a ministry for the northeast – the DONER (development of northeastern region) ministry. The ministry is in pitiable condition now.
“Assam’s famous river island Majuli has failed to get the UNESCO world heritage site status all these years and 1,053 one-horn rhinos, which are the identity of Assam and pride of the entire country, have been killed inside the protected areas in the last ten years,” said Prasad.
“There was a discussion on May 5, 2005 when the prime minister had assured a delegation of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) that the porous border of the state will be sealed. We want to remind the prime minister that this is 2014 and the state’s international border with Bangladesh are still open,” he added.
The senior BJP leader also blamed the vote bank politics of the Congress government for the unabated killing of one-horned rhinos, alleging that the Congress had helped illegal migrants from Bangladesh to settle in and around the Kaziranga National Park and these were helping poachers in killing the rhinos.