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Gogoi rakes up secret killing' to grill Prafulla Kumar Mahanta in Assam

The Secret killings refer to killing of relatives, friends, sympathisers of Ulfa rebels by unidentified assailants between 1998 and 2001.

Guwahati: Bogged down by anti-Congress polarization, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, on Friday, raked up the issue of “secret killing” of family members of Ulfa rebels allegedly during AGP regime while defining its alliance with BJP as “opportunistic”.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi came to power in 2001 by raking up the issue of secret killing and assuring the people of Assam to book the culprits including politicians responsible for it. However, in past three terms Gogoi failed to fulfill his commitments on “secret killings.”

The “Secret killings” refer to the killing of relatives, friends and sympathisers of Ulfa rebels by unidentified assailants between 1998 and 2001.

In an obvious attempt to target the BJP-AGP alliance, Gogoi told reporters, “Secret killings during Prafulla Kumar Mahanta's rule was a blot on Assam's history and both the AGP in the state and BJP-led NDA government at the Centre during that period were equally responsible for the killing of innocent people.”

Facing attacks from opposition, Gogoi said, “Mahanta was responsible for the secret killings and it could not have been possible without the support of the central government where the NDA was in power then.”

Alleging that second term of Mahanta as Chief Minister was the worst phase of Assam’s history, Gogoi said, “It was the period when state bled both in term of law and order and financially.”

When asked about his promises to book the culprits, Gogoi said that his government failed to identify the culprits but stopped such killings.

Gogoi further accused the AGP and the BJP of being power hungry and entering into an “opportunistic alliance to serve their selfish aspirations”.

He also accused Mahanta and AGP of compromising with regional interest and sacrificing regional aspirations for self-interest.

He added, “I keep saying that Modi has failed to deliver, but now his own alliance partner is saying the same thing. So this proves that both our allegations are correct.” It is significant that Mr Gogoi has been winning three consecutive elections with a divided opposition. It was for the first time the opposition has formed an alliance to counter ruling Congress party.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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