Guwahati, Dec. 7 : Under sustained attack from the Opposition over the Rs 1,000-crore NC Hills scam, the Congress and the party-led Assam government today decided to mount a joint multi-pronged campaign to convey the “truth” to the people as well the “good work” that Dispur has been doing for almost 10 years.
As part of the counter-offensive, government spokesperson Bharat Narah and chief minister’s press adviser D.K. Bora had a sitting with party spokespersons at the Assembly on how to go about their task.
They decided to meet every Tuesday and hold a conclave of block and district spokespersons here by the end of this month to educate party spokespersons about the government’s stand on various issues and development initiatives so that it promptly reaches the masses.
The move mirrors a similar initiative by the party high command on beefing up its media team and having senior cabinet ministers interact with the media to effectively counter the Opposition propaganda on graft in wake of the 2G spectrum scam that continues to paralyse Parliament.
The meeting here followed interaction between PCC leaders headed by president Bhubaneswar Kalita and chief minister Tarun Gogoi, both at Rajiv Bhawan and Gogoi’s residence at Koinadhara yesterday, reflecting their concern over the relentless Opposition attack months ahead of the Assembly polls.
Soon after the meeting, Narah said the Opposition’s charges based on the CAG’s inspection report would fall flat after December 15, by when chief secretary N.K. Das will give his report on the excess allocation and irregularities in the council.
He also went on to predict that the Congress would comfortably win the polls because the Gogoi government had done much more than the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar and Narendra Modi’s in Gujarat but somehow it has not got due publicity.
He was, however, less than convincing when asked about the lack of action on last year’s R.K. Manisana Commission inquiry report into the militant-official-politician nexus in NC Hills, saying he would have to go through the minutes of the cabinet meeting.
Opposition leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta has opened another flank for Dispur to counter by accusing the Gogoi government of being involved in a Rs 180-crore NREGA scam in NC Hills. He also reiterated his demand for action against those who violated the cabinet decision on funding to NCHAC. “Dispur is trying to divert attention from the scam. What is the need of Assembly debate after the CAG inspection report which has many conclusive remarks?” he asked.
The day also saw AGP president Chandra Mohan Patowary launch a party website, www.asomganaparishad.in, to “educate” the masses on why they need a regional party such as the AGP. This is an indication that the Opposition plans to match the Congress on the propaganda front.
No comments:
Post a Comment