POLLSCAPE. ‘BJP can’t fool all the people, all the time’

The veteran of many battles in Assam, 79-year-old Tarun Gogoi is facing yet another crucial contest against a determined BJP which has hijacked his most trusted lieutenant, Himanta Biswa Sarma, for this round. Gogoi was stunned in the 2014 general elections when the BJP won seven of the 14 seats in Assam, reducing the Congress to just three. Although he made a customary announcement for his resignation following the Lok Sabha debacle, the old war horse has picked himself up again and brought the Congress back to a fighting position after careful outreach towards his party’s core voter – the tea garden workers and the Muslims. He refused an alliance with Badruddin Ajmal of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and believes that the Congress has sufficient grassroot support to decimate the combined might of the BJP, the Asom Gana Parishad and the Bodoland People’s Front (BPF). The Assam Chief Minister spoke to Poornima Joshi about why he thinks the BJP has lost the ground it gained in his state. Excerpts from the interview:

Q. Going by the Lok Sabha results, the BJP should win in 69 seats. What have you done in the last two years to recover the Congress’s lost support?

A. 2014 was a wave election. We have seen all this before. In 1985, the AGP came with a slogan promising the “golden era” for Assam. We were ousted. I lost my own election. I was unable to show my face, visit my brother for three years because we were so badly humiliated. But a wave doesn’t last forever. You can create a wave but maintaining it is difficult. Indiraji swept to power in 1971 and things went downhill after that. Rajivji came with the biggest majority ever and had to lose the election subsequently. What the Congress has learnt is that a wave is transitory. Already, people are asking Modi what happened to Achche Din, what about the Rs 15 lakh that was to be deposited in individual accounts, price rise. In the specific context of Assam, Modi said the day he comes to power, the illegal migrants should pack their bags and leave. He talked about stopping construction of the mega Lower Subansiri Dam. Has the Modi government sent back a single illegal migrant back to Bangladesh in the last two years while it signed a land boundary agreement with that country reneging on the promise made to the people of Assam. The Centre is now trying to resume the stalled construction of the Lower Subansiri Dam. There is a limit to how much you can lie. I’d say you can fool some people some time. But can’t fool all the people all the time.

Q. That is about the BJP, but what have you specifically done to win back lost support? You were talking about resigning and retiring at the time…

A. I would have retired but it is important to defeat the BJP. About the Congress, you see we work sincerely without bothering too much about publicity. In the last 15 years of my tenure, the people of Assam have seen a sea change on the ground situation. What were the circumstances when I assumed office – the state had been run to the ground, we had a back-breaking economic crisis, we couldn’t pay salaries, development work, roads, bridges everything had come to a halt. And insurgency had crippled normal life, extremists were gunning down innocent people. We had been through a spell of secret killings of the innocent relatives of those suspected to have extremist links. It was a bit like the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh under the BJP. People are disappearing, committing suicide and you don’t know who is doing it. The challenges were immense. But I decided that we will not say ‘without peace, no development’. I said peace and development will go hand in hand.

I went to work at a time when the financial situation had come to such a pass that the AGP government before me had to resort to overdraft for 293 days in 2000-01. I took up the challenge and have no hesitation in admitting that when the Centre stopped our assistance, it was Atal Behari Vajpayee who came to my rescue. Due to delay in payments, we had run into severe liquidity problems. Because the state could not clear 25 per cent of its overdraft with the RBI, central payments were stopped. Vajpayeeji agreed to help us but the Planning Commission said they could not make an exception for Assam. Besides urging Vajpayeeji that they should release money on our promise of deferred payments, we received help from Arun Shourie also. He helped us with external aided projects. The Asian Development Bank lent us and then money started pouring in. We commenced work on development projects.

Simultaneously, I got to work on the ULFA. I kept my doors open to whoever wanted to talk and resolve issues but we were firm against violence. The development progress eroded their support base. People’s disenchantment with violence and the improving law and order situation drove the extremists out. I have never publicized all this because I believe that our work should speak for itself.

Q. But Mr Gogoi, you are seeking your fourth term and the Congfress’s support among tea garden workers and the Muslims has substantially eroded. You can’t deny that the BJP is a strong contender…

A. They are losing ground everywhere since the Lok Sabha elections. Besides their defeats in Delhi and Bihar, you should not forget that lost panchayat elections in Gujarat as well. It’s clear, what they promised was far removed from what they could deliver. You see, they don’t understand anything. I heard them saying we will give 50 per cent reservation to women in Panchayats. It is already given. You should think before you speak.

Q. Your most trusted lieutenant has crossed over to the BJP. He says you promoted a dynasty culture, your own son.

A. Himanta was my blue-eyed boy. I encouraged and supported him much more than I supported Gaurav (Gaurav Gogoi, his son). I gave him crucial assignments, supported him throughout. And why only him, there’s Raquibul Hussain and all the other young MLAs. Most of my ministers are young MLAs. Who put them there? Who supported them? What can I do if Himanta now feels the BJP is the right party for him? I remember he once said Muslim blood flows in the drains of Gujarat. It’s all right if he is now happy with a person who once had murder charges against him. I’d say he has found his level.

Q. What about Badruddin Ajmal Mr Gogoi? Why did you not accept his offer for an alliance?

A. Ajmal is helping the BJP. We can’t have any understanding with a person like him. I know him personally but politics is different. We have seen the likes of him. There was a minority front here once. We refused to have any truck with them and the Muslims understood that they were playing communal politics.

Q. The BJP is fighting with AGP and the Bodos…

A. The Congress can tackle them alone. Don’t forget, the AGP, BJP and the Bodos were in alliance in 2001 as well. We defeated them then and wse will defeat them now.

Q. In the event of a hung assembly, would you prefer to go with Ajmal or the Bodos?

A. That situation will not arise. We are winning comfortably.

Q. But what if it does?

A. We have always had good representation of the Bodos in our government.

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