By IANS,
Guwahati : Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi Saturday accused the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine of fielding a candidate chargesheeted for murder.
“I am not naming the candidate, but I am telling you that there is one candidate in the AGP-BJP combine who was chargesheeted in a murder case,” the chief minister told reporters. “Let the AGP-BJP deny the charge and then I will name him.”
The chief minister lashed out at the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani for “shedding crocodile tears” during his visit to Assam for campaigning.
“Advani was silent when there was a spate of secret killings in Assam when the AGP government led by Prafulla Kumar Mahanta was in power and Advani was the home minister,” Gogoi said.
“I would say the AGP and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the centre connived to carry out the secret killings, a dark chapter in Assam’s history.”
Assam witnessed a series of killings of family members of leaders of the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom between 1996 to 2001.
The chief minister also rejected Advani’s fear that illegal infiltration from Bangladesh was the state’s biggest threat.
“I would say that more than infiltration, unemployment is the biggest problem facing Assam today though I admit infiltration is also a problem,” Gogoi said.