Gogoi declares himself as captain for Assam polls

Virtually anointing himself as the Chief Ministerial candidate for the fourth straight term, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday said the coming Assembly election would be a direct fight between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ruled out any alliance.

“Everyone’s face will be there. But I will be the captain. I am the General of the party and Modi is the General of BJP,” he said at a press conference.

Gogoi was replying to a question on whether he would be the Congress’ Chief Ministerial candidate or not in the Assembly polls expected to be held in April-May. The 79-year-old Congress veteran also ruled out any alliance with any party, saying  that the Congress is more interested for electoral “understanding” with “secular” parties to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“I am going alone. There will be no seat-sharing. There will be no ‘mahajoth’ (grand alliance). Only ‘maha understanding’ with some secular parties to ensure the BJP’s defeat. Understanding means vote for Congress but not BJP. Vote for AGP but not for BJP,” he said.

He said Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has left it to him and the party’s state unit to decide on the issue of alliance. Gogoi, who has been Chief Minister of Assam for the last 15 years, however, admitted that the coming polls would be a tough one for the Congress but he likes such challenges.

“BJP is eyeing Assam. It will be an interesting election. Every election is tough. I welcome tough election. A tough election makes us tougher,” he said.

The Chief Minister said there is little anti-incumbency in Assam as such things come if there is a failure in implementing promises. “Whatever little anti-incumbency is there, it will be overcome by our development work,” he said. 

Launching a direct attack against the Prime Minister, Gogoi said Modi is “not a dignified” PM as no Prime Minister in independent India had criticised his or her predecessor the way he did recently.

“I have never met any Prime Minister blaming his predecessor. It is a great departure from precedent. Besides, whatever statement he made, it was not correct. He is not a dignified Prime Minister. I have not seen any Prime Minister condemning his predecessor,” he said.

Modi, at a recent rally in Assam, had said that despite former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh being a Rajya Sabha member from the state, it has not seen the kind of development it should have.

“He made allegations against Manmohan Singh. I want to ask have all problems in Gujarat been solved when he was Chief Minister for three consecutive terms. I know that 30,000 small and medium enterprises in Gujarat are sick. Farmers of Gujarat are in a distressed state, they are unhappy,” he said.

The Chief Minister said people of India had high hope when Modi was elected as the Prime Minister and thought that he was the only man who can bring drastic change.

“But instead of concentrating on internal affairs, instead of solving the country’s problems, he is more interested on foreign affairs. No other Prime Minister has spent so much time in meeting NRIs than farmers. He enjoys the company of NRIs and CEOs,” he said. 

Gogoi also claimed that Modi is losing control over his ministers as ministers were making different statements on an issue. “I don’t know whether he has hold over them or allow them to speak like that,” he said.

Asked about former Congress leader Himanta Biswa Sarma’s joining the BJP, Gogoi said his departure had helped the Congress and brought resentment in the saffron party.