Pradyut Bordoloi vs Sarbananda Sonowal
Pradyut Bordoloi (left) takes a dig at Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal (left)

Taking a dig at Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Nowgong Lok Sabha MP Pradyut Bordoloi urged the CM to make the number of unemployed in Assam public.

This came a day after the CM thanked the union government for taking steps to boost the state’s economy.

Bordoloi also asked the CM to reveal the numbers of small and medium industrial units that have downed their shutters in the last three years.

Sonowal held a press conference on Wednesday and thanked the union finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for slashing corporate tax.

He also thanked the centre for taking various other steps for ‘boosting the state’s economy’.

“The country’s economy is in a bad shape, its worsening and we are worried,” Bordoloi said.

“The reduction of corporate tax has benefitted only a few industrialists like the Ambanis and Adanis,” Bordoloi added.

“Contrary to the CM’s, it has no positive impact on the common people,” Bordoloi said.

“Over 2,000 automobile dealers have closed shutters in the last few days across the country,” he added.

“Automobile companies have resorted to halting manufacturing. However, in such a situation Sonowal has said that the corporate tax reduction is going to affect the common people positively,” he further said.

“So we urge him to explain in detail as to how this corporate tax reduction will help the common people in Assam,” the Congress MP added.

Bordoloi also slammed the CM for claiming that investment worth Rs 52,000 crore have landed in Assam after the Advantage Assam summit.

The summit was organized by the BJP-led Assam government in 2018.

“Rs. 30,000 crore of this investment is related to the capacity enhancement of Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL),” said Bordoloi.

“This project began in 2012 when the Congress government was in power. The capacity enhancement of BRPL which is worth Rs 7000 crore is also an ongoing project,” he added.

Bordoloi further informed that the Hindustan Uniliver Limited which had set up its plant in Assam in 2002 have been forced to shrink its operation.

“Earlier there were three shifts of work in the HULL plant at Doom Dooma and there were about 2,600 workers. Now only 600 workers work there,” said Bordoloi.

“This is the reality in Assam,” the former Assam minister for power, industries and commerce added.