Sivasagar (Assam):
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to rule the northeast by “remote control from Nagpur” (RSS headquarters) and destroy the age-old tradition of peace, culture and history of these states.
“Narendra Modi wants to rule Assam or Manipur or Arunachal Pradesh by remote control from Nagpur. Modi wants to impose only one line of thought by breaking the age-old tradition of peace, culture and history,” he told a Congress rally here on the last day of his two-day visit to Assam.
Referring to Modi’s handling of the northeast, he said he had one day rung up Congress president Sonia Gandhi and informed her that he had signed a “historic Nagaland accord” which the Congress could not in 40 years.
Sonia asked him (Rahul) to find out from chief ministers of Assam, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh about the accord but all of them said they had no knowledge of it, he said.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh too said he had no information when contacted, Rahul claimed.
“Don’t know what Modi was thinking and what he achieved by way of the Naga accord. There should be some weight and value in the prime minister’s statement when he rings up a leader of the Opposition,” he said.
Modi had announced the signing of an accord between the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) and the Centre on August 3 last year.
“(Assam Chief Minister) Tarun Gogoi told me that Modi before visiting Assam does not take briefings on the state, does not want to know about it. He just talks about few things in the meetings here and then goes away,” Rahul claimed.
Continuing his attack, the Congress vice-president said, “Modi’s only aim is to help the few selected industrialists who are with him.
“Congress and Gogoi will never allow that in Assam as we respect your history and tradition and want to uphold them. We want to help the youth here.”
Rahul said Congress believes in peace and working for the poor and the downtrodden. “On the other side are RSS and BJP people. During the (Lok Sabha) elections, Modi came to Assam, made speeches and spread hatred here.”
“Modi made big promises about giving Rs 15 lakh in each Indian’s bank account but none got it. Instead he wore a suit costing Rs 15 lakh,” he said.
Noting that Modi will again come to Assam in the run-up to the assembly polls, the Congress vice-president said this time he will not speak about his promises but come up with new campaigns like his ‘Make in India’, ‘Swachh Bharat’, ‘Connect India’.
