PM Modi Accuses Congress Regime of denying Basic Needs to Tea Workers

WITH reports suggesting   that Congress losing its bastion among tea estates workers in Upper Assam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday kicked off election campaign in Assam’s Dibrugarh district named the Tea City across the world. Addressing a massive election rally at Polo Club ground in Moran, some 45 km from Dibrugarh city on the bank of the mighty Brahmaputra, for BJP candidates Rameswar Teli (Dibrugarh Lok Sabha seat) and Topon Kumar Gogoi (Jorhat), Modi said the Congress disliked the people associated with tea so much that they neglected the workers in Assam and West Bengal for the past seven decades. They could not even provide the workers the basic amenties.”They hate the chowkidars and chaiwalas who are poor and work hard for livelihood. They have a sense of hate feeling even for all those associated with tea. If not, why would they leave the workers to suffer for several decades? Only a chaiwala can understand the pain of chaiwallas.That’s the reason why we got bank accounts opened for tea estate (TE) workers to pay Rs 5,000 in two instalments, besides disbursing Rs 12,000 to the pregnant women in plantations and providing free rice and sugar at Rs 2.” No one would ever snatch these services from the workers. Highlighting several developmental programmes and ongoing projects in the State like power connections, health intervention programmes, LPG connections, concrete houses, and other individual benefits, Modi said and asked the crowd if they were happy with him. On receipt of   positive response, Modi said: “When you are happy and the entire country is happy, there are two places where people are in discomfort. One is the Congress family and the other one is the havens of the terrorist. When you press the button next to the lotus symbol on April 11, these two places will be silenced. For the first time in the country, our soldiers entered the enemy’s homeland and attacked them. But the Congress is not happy. When the whole world stood by us, the Congress remains disturbed,” Modi said.The Prime Minister also said that his government was working seriously to accord scheduled tribe (ST) status to Ahom, Mottock, Moran, Chutia, Koch Rajbongshi and tea tribes communities without harming the rights of the existing ST people of the State. “We will implement the Assam Accord, which has remained stagnant since the Congress rule. Along with the development of the State, the identity and the rich cultures of the State will be protected,” he said. Referring to completion of  the gas cracker project, Dhola-Sadiya Bridge (Bhupen Hazarika Setu), Bogibeel bridge and so on during NDA regime , Modi said that the projects were stuck during the Congress rule but the NDA government had managed to complete those in last five years.“Dibrugarh being one of the nerve centres for trade, commerce and employment, besides having huge potential, lacked connectivity with the rest of the region. We have made efforts to connect it with railways like Rajdhani touching Moran,” the Prime Minister said., Modi appealed to the public not to give them a chance to come to power. “If they come to power, the country and Assam would revert to the days of backwardness,” he said. “The elders know how much Assam was cheated by the governments just after the Independence and if Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi had not been there, the State would have perished. Assam and the Northeast have still been suffering for what the governments did in the 1970s,” he said. Recalling the contributions of the martyrs of Asaam, Gohpur in particular, Modi said their sacrifices have led the country to the top of development making it strong. Commending the achievements of the Sarbananda Sonowal-led NDA government in the State in the presence of Assam CM , the Prime Minister said a good number of activities have been undertaken for the benefit of the poor such as schemes in health sector, LPG connection, dwelling houses, electricity connection, besides those schemes for tea garden workers and farmers. Modi also declared that as many as five bridges would be constructed on the river Brahmaputra and the Gohpur-Numaligarh Bridge is one of them. Work for four-laning of the National Highway 15 from Tezpur to Gohpur is going on in full swing and the Silghat-Tezpur broad gauge railway line is on the pipeline, he said.