BJP president Nitin Gadkari accused the Congress of betraying the people of Assam by claiming to have established the petroleum institute in Sivasagar when it was being set up at Rae Bareli, the constituency of Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Referring the Rajiv Gandhi Petroleum Institute at Sivasagar whose foundation stone was laid by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last month, Mr Gadkari said, “Information provided to us by government sources reveals that the main institute is being set up at Rae Bareli and what Assam is getting in the name of petroleum institute is peanuts. This is total injustice to the people of the state, which produces so much crude oil and natural gas.”
Addressing a large gathering at Naharkatia, Mr Gadkari promised that if voted to power, the BJP would ensure that Assam had a proper petroleum institute. “We will also see that the students in the state have enough engineering and medical colleges. We will build international standard schools in the government sector,” he announced referring the instances of Gujarat and Bihar where party has been ruling.
In an obvious attempt to woo the electorates he went on saying, “We will provide free tractors and other modern farming equipment. We will ensure round-the-year irrigation to the fields, we will provide seeds and whatever assistance is required for growth of agricultural output of the state.”
Mr Gadkari said if his party comes to power in the state, it will increase the daily wages of the tea garden workers to `100.