Guwahati (Assam) [India], August 30 (ANI): Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) on Sunday sharply criticised the disparaging remarks made against the Congress Party by Raijor Dal President Akhil Gogoi in blatant violation of alliance principles and warned Gogoi against functioning as a “government agent”.
Addressing a joint press conference, Assam Pradesh Mahila Congress President Mira Borthakur and APCC Media & Communication Department Chairman Bedabrat Bora slammed Akhil Gogoi as an incompetent political lightweight and a shrewd, opportunistic, and hypocritical leader.
Speaking at the press meet, APCC Media & Communication Department Chairman Bedabrat Bora stated that party leaders, including APCC President and Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, as well as former Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia, have been working tirelessly day and night not just to distribute flood relief but also to rehabilitate flood-affected families, as per the release.
Strongly criticising Akhil Gogoi for abandoning coalition ethics and making reckless, irresponsible statements over the past two days, Bora stated that Congress believes in genuine public service rather than indulging in cheap PR stunts.
He pointedly reminded Gogoi that he managed to win the Sibsagar assembly seat only with the active support and political “oxygen” of the Congress; without Congress’s backing, he would not have won a single seat.
Warning Akhil Gogoi not to meddle in Congress’s internal affairs while boasting of being the sole opposition, Bora said, “He should first set his own house in order. If we start revealing the internal infighting within Raijor Dal, Akhil Gogoi will have to bury his head in the sand. Akhil Gogoi is an irresponsible upstart who does not even know what he is talking about.”
Bora further highlighted that Gogoi conveniently ignored how Gaurav Gogoi wrapped up his official programmes in Delhi to camp in the flood-ravaged areas of Jorhat and Sibsagar and how he forcefully demanded a Rs 10,000 crore flood assistance package for Assam on the floor of the Lok Sabha.
Bora alleged that, seeing Congress’s certain victory in the upcoming Nagaon Lok Sabha by-election, the ruling BJP is using Akhil Gogoi as a government agent to advance their agenda against Congress.
Taking a sharp dig at Akhil Gogoi, Bora added, “Echoing the BJP’s tune, the primary issue of Assam for Akhil Gogoi today has become whether Gaurav Gogoi has mud on his feet or not!”
Meanwhile, Assam Pradesh Mahila Congress President Mira Borthakur stated that Congress had maintained patience thus far solely because Raijor Dal was an alliance partner, but tolerance has its limits. Ridiculing Akhil Gogoi’s habitual over-excitement during election seasons, she said that he crossed all limits by convening a press conference to label the Congress as a “duplicate opposition”.
Rebutting his mocking remarks about Gaurav Gogoi not having mud on his feet, Borthakur maintained that Gaurav Gogoi does not engage in theatrics, and clamouring for photo-ops is not Congress’s culture.
She asserted, “Gaurav Gogoi is not a leader who stages cheap political dramas everywhere like Himanta Biswa Sarma and Akhil Gogoi. Instead of chasing hollow publicity, he prefers to work quietly for the people.” Condemning Gogoi’s ridicule at a time when thousands of Congress workers, MLAs, and all-India Sevadal leaders are physically sweating on the ground to reconstruct homes and distribute relief, Borthakur demanded an unconditional apology from him.
Accusing Akhil Gogoi of targeting Gaurav Gogoi at the behest of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Mira Borthakur questioned why Gogoi is preoccupied with Gaurav Gogoi’s footwear rather than demanding whether distressed flood-affected families have received the government-promised ₹15,000 relief.
Exposing Akhil Gogoi’s double standards, she said, “Whenever the Chief Minister visits Sibsagar, Akhil Gogoi meekly clings to him saying ‘Dada, Dada’ and turns into a soaked kitten; yet, the moment the Chief Minister departs, he assumes a fiery posture and begins theatrical antics.”
Borthakur questioned the point of acting subservient in front of the Chief Minister only to put on a show of hollow aggression for the public later. She also asked why Akhil Gogoi lacked the courage to demand a CBI inquiry into the devastation in Upper Assam despite serious allegations implicating Minister Sushanta Borgohain, Mayur Borgohain, and Dharmeshwar Konwar, whereas senior Congress leader Debabrata Saikia has been actively fighting the matter through PILs in the National Green Tribunal and the Supreme Court.
The Mahila Congress President expressed strong indignation that instead of raising his voice against burning issues–such as the arbitrary closure of vernacular schools, rampant drug trafficking, supply of substandard four-foot mattresses to flood victims, and a ₹5.5 crore flood relief scam–Akhil Gogoi is actively shielding the state government.
Referring to viral audio leaks that exposed Raijor Dal’s own functionaries indulging in syndicates, leading to internal suspensions, she warned that those who spit upward only soil their own faces.
She observed that brandishing yellow and blue files to create hullabaloo and then falling suspiciously silent upon securing a hefty government ‘package’ has been Akhil Gogoi’s old modus operandi, which he is attempting to replicate ahead of the Nagaon by-election.
Reminding him that without Congress leader Sibamoni Bora’s sacrifice in Dhing, Raijor Dal would not have had an MLA there either, Borthakur stated that Himanta Biswa Sarma is supplying ‘oxygen’ to Raijor Dal solely to weaken the BJP’s principal opponent, the Congress. Citing the warning, “The arrow shot at Bali can also strike Sugriva,” she cautioned Akhil Gogoi against excessive arrogance.
Borthakur sternly reminded him that a leader representing a party with barely two MLAs has no moral standing to label a century-old national movement built on the legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Tarun Gogoi, and Hiteswar Saikia as ‘duplicate’.
She urged Akhil Gogoi to desist from conniving with the BJP or AIUDF to harm Congress and to practice politics rooted in moral values rather than government handouts, warning that while winged ants may fly briefly before their downfall, continuing such deceit will leave him with no place to show his face before the people of Assam. (ANI)
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