Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi here on Thursday said that his party will not be naming anyone as chief ministerial candidate in the forthcoming Assembly elections in Assam.
Claiming that he was not in the race for the chair of chief minister in third term, Mr Gogoi however told reporters that he was not going to retire. “I was planning to take retirement but now opposition has provoked me to remain in the politics,” said Mr Gogoi adding that charges of corruption levelled by former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta was baseless.
Referring achievement of his government that succeeded in enhancing the finance commission’s award from `13,280 crore in 2001 (11th finance commission) to `57832 crore in 13th Finance Commission, Mr Gogoi claimed, “I inherited a government in 2001 grappling with problems but now economy of the state was booming.”
He also claimed that his tenure of past five years would be the best since Independence. “I do not know about the future but last five years of my government is the best period in the history of Assam insofar as development is concerned,” he said pointing out that state has been flooded with technical colleges and developmental activities.