Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday slammed the BJP government for not objecting to China building a dam on the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra in Tibet, which would affect the life and economy of the people in Assam.
She said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attack on the Congress based on a conspiracy theory triggered by the tweet of a 22-year-old (green activist Disha Ravi) did not behove of his position.
Addressing election rallies at Jorhat, Nazira and Khumtai in eastern Assam, Ms. Vadra said the dam being built by China would damage the ecology associated with the Brahmaputra.
“The Prime Minister has campaigned in Assam several times but said not a word on this vital issue. He did not even try to prevent China from constructing the mega dam,” she said.
The dam in Tibet is being built across the Yarlung Tsangpo, one of the three rivers that form the Brahmaputra in Assam after flowing through Arunachal Pradesh as the Siang.
Ms. Vadra also slammed the BJP-led government for promulgating an ordinance allowing big industrialists to purchase lands in Assam without any permission.
‘Not like a PM’
The Congress general secretary was scathing in her criticism of Mr. Modi for delivering poll speeches that a Prime Minister of a country was not expected to make. She said this in reference to Mr. Modi raking up the toolkit issue to claim that the Congress was colluding with foreign forces to finish off Assam’s tea industry.
“Instead of talking about key issues of this State and the BJP’s agenda, he concentrated on a tweet of a 22-year-old girl, making this the basis of conspiracy theory against the tea industry by the Congress. Does this befit the office of a Prime Minister?” Ms. Vadra said.
“The Prime Minister is showing so much concern about the tea industry. Has he ever visited a tea garden and seen how hard the women work in the plantations?” she asked.
‘BJP installed 2 CMs’
She took a dig at the BJP for installing “two CMs” in the State, an indirect reference to Finance and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who, rivals say, wields more power than Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
“The BJP has two Chief Ministers, one here and the other controlled by Delhi. This is what the BJP means by double engine. One does not know in which direction the two engines will move,” Ms. Vadra said, reaffirming the party’s commitment to its “five guarantees”.
These guarantees include scrapping the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, increasing the daily wage of tea plantation workers to ₹365 and ₹2,000 as monthly income support to all homemakers.
