Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today attacked former chief minister and senior Congress leader Tarun Gogoi of practising "hit-and-run" inside the Assembly and said he should now face the house and make statements in it.
He also attacked the opposition, mainly the Congress, for alleging that nothing has been done from the budget proposals of the last two years.
"Former chief minister Tarun Gogoi practised hit-and-run in the House. He criticised me with a personal attack during the debate on the budget. When my turn came today, he is not present here," Sarma said in his reply to close discussion on the 2018-19 budget.
The former chief minister had taken part in the ongoing discussions on the budget on March 13.
Sarma said Gogoi should face and make statements inside the House instead of running away and comment in front of TV.
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"Speaker Sir, I never said that Tarun Gogoi is the best CM. If he cannot give proof those lines should be expunged from records," Sarma said.
"I did not praise his son Gaurav and that is why I could not stay in Congress," said Sarma, who had handled different portfolios as cabinet minister for 15 years under Gogoi.
He said Gogoi's budget proposals did not have anything innovative and they were full of only centrally and externally aided schemes, while many of the announcements were never implemented.
"Nobody holds him accountable because of his seniority. We respect his seniority. But why does he want to put all responsibilities on me? Was I the Congress? I was only a minister," Sarma said.
The senior BJP leader also slammed the veteran Congress leader and said: "He always says that he never heard of Deendayal Upadhyay. Then how come he announced a scheme in Deendayal Upadhyay's name in 2006-7?"
He attacked the opposition, mainly the Congress, for alleging that the government had done nothing from the budget proposals of the last two years and presented a list of already implemented schemes.
Allaying fears on complying with the budget for 2018-19, Sarma said "We will get around Rs 26,000 crore from central tax devolution, Rs 17,000 crore for central schemes, Rs 17,000 crore from own resources, Rs 3,313 crore from Finance Commission and Rs 8,000 crore from oil royalty.
"With strong financial position, the government can also borrow and thus it will be able to garner around Rs 90,000 crore to run the state economy and implement the budget proposals during the next financial year," he claimed.
Sarma also informed the Assembly that under the BJP-led government, the tax collection and capital expenditure in the state have grown substantially due to the robust financial management.
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