Mahanta slams Cong tact - ‘BPF demand for state to divert attention from scam’

Prafulla Kumar Mahanta Guwahati, Nov. 24: Former chief minister and Opposition leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta today said the demand for a separate state for the Bodos had been raised by the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) at the behest of the Congress, its ruling partner in the state, in order to divert the people’s attention from the Rs 1,000-crore scam in the Dima Hasao (formerly NC Hills) district and the issue of big dams. Chief minister Tarun Gogoi had hit back at Mahanta yesterday for seeking the resignation of the three BPF ministers in the state cabinet. “The present demand for a separate state by the Bodos is a pre-planned design of the Congress to divert people’s attention from other burning issues like the big dams and Rs 1,000-crore scam in the Dima Hasao district,” said Mahanta. Mahanta also dared Gogoi to make public the amount of money spent on development projects in the Dima Hasao district. “It is the Congress who has been dividing Assam. It is the Congress who had divided Assam into seven states by creating a division among the tribals and non-tribals,” he said and added that the then leaders of Meghalaya, Nagaland and others, who had demanded separate states, were all Congress leaders. “The Gogoi-led Congress government in Assam is yet to implement the recommendations of the inquiry commission which probed the 2008 Beltola violence where an Adivasi girl was stripped in broad daylight,” Mahanta said. “The chief minister often said the Centre had not given Rs 1,000 crore to Dima Hasao district for development. Now, I dare him to make clear as to how much money had been given to the district in the last few years for development schemes,” the former chief minister said. Mahanta’s statement assumes significance now, particularly as the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), which carried out an inquiry into the financial irregularities of the district, has already submitted its report to the Assam governor. “The amount of total financial irregularities in Dima Hasao district will be more than Rs 1,000 crore if one takes into account the funds given to all the departments in the district. Lots of trees have been felled in the district for the national highway extension project. Where have all these felled trees gone?” he asked. Mahanta also asked the chief minister to make public the amount of money the government had paid to people as compensation for acquiring land during the NH extension project.