Former Assam DGP G M Srivastava has dropped a bomb-shell enough to rock the already volatile political atmosphere of Assam ahead of Lok Sabha elections.
In a sensational revelation, the former director general of Assam Police claimed that the Indian National Congress (INC) has regained power at Dispur in 2001 riding on the back of the banned militant outfit, ULFA.
Speaking to an electronic media group, the former top cop alleged that the grand old party of Congress had a strong nexus the ULFA in 2001, and that the outlawed insurgent outfit was directly involved with the Assembly elections process then in the State.
Srivastava even went to the extend of alleging that the proscribed militant group helped Congress win the elections in the State in lieu of ‘huge amount of money’.
Srivastava was quoted as saying at that time when he was at the helm of affairs in Assam Police, the state police intelligence intercepted a message of ULFA commander in chief Paresh Baruah, wherein he purportedly ordered his boys ‘to attack the candidates of Assam Gana Parishad (AGP).’
Srivastava was further quoted in the report that in the same message, further instructions were also given ‘to kill the candidates of another political party’.
Srivastava in the interview further claimed that before the 2001 elections, the ULFA C-in-C passed ‘a strict order’ to his men to hold negotiations with the Congress, which was then in Opposition.
Srivastava was further quoted as adding that during the 2001 Assembly elections, the ULFA cadres were deployed in the polling centres to force people to vote in favour of Congress.
Congress won the 2001 polls with 71 seats, while the AGP could manage only 20 seats, even though it had forged an alliance with the BJP then.
Srivastava was further quoted as saying that the outfit has not much role to play in the upcoming Parliamentary elections.
The former DGP, however, added that the militants could trigger one or two subversive incidents in upper Assam districts in the run-up to the LoK Sabha elections.
Notably, Srivastava was appointed as DGP of Assam in 2008 during Tarun Gogoi’s regime and during Gogoi’s third term, he was appointed as security advisor to the chief minister.
With the Congress trying to regain lost ground, while the BJP will be aiming to further its seat strength, now it remains to seen what ramification such an explosive revelations makes in the run-up to the Parliamentary elections.
However, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) was quick to reacting refuting all claims made by the former DGP.
The APCC, according to reports maintained that the party was never involved with any proscribed outfit and that the State had witnessed decline in militant activities during the three term rule of former chief minister.