Assam Chief Minister and Congress veteran Tarun Gogoi on Monday sought to downplay the much hyped 'Modi magic' of the Bharatiya Janata Party it saying "Modi magic won't work here in Assam which has its own mystical magic hub Mayong".
Regarding the security arrangements for the forthcoming National Games to be held in the state, Gogoi exuded confidence to hold the event smoothly notwithstanding ULFA triggering blasts in the city in regular intervals of late.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Saturday stated that the foreigners or infiltration was not the only major problem faced by the state as some quarters have trying to project it though he admitted that illegal foreigners were indeed present in the state.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Tuesday expressed apprehension about Maoists' design behind the agitation launched by the landless or illegal settlers on government land under the banner of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samity, whose leader Akhil Gogoi has already been arrested and in judicial custody now.
The chief minister further said that the Unified Command required better cooperation from Arunachal Pradesh to flush out the militants holed up in the forests across the boundary.
Credited with bringing insurgent group United Liberation Front of Asom to the negotiating table and hauling Assam back from the brink of bankruptcy, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has combined administrative and political acumen with his simple demeanour to help Congress retain power for a record consecutive third term.
Encouraged by the decision of the All India Congress Committee to appoint two of his trusted lieutenants as secretaries, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi will now get tough on dissident Congress MLAs in the state.
Warming up for his visit to Bangladesh in the company of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on September 6 and 7, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday showered praise on Bangladesh Prime Minister Seikh Hasina and her government for being very helpful in evicting militants leaders of the northeast, including those from the United Liberation Front of Asom and the National Democratic Front of Bodoland, which has been instrumental in containing insurgency in the state of late
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Tuesday promised to publish a white paper by the first week of October giving details about the steps taken by the government to check the illegal migration from Bangladesh even as a fresh wave of people's agitation against the problem of illegal migrants threatening to gather momentum in the state.
"The violence in Assam is not a communal clash as alleged by the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is a clash between Bodos and religious minority community triggered by some elements with vested interests. Both communities have been affected by the clashes," Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said vehemently refuting BJP's allegation that it was a communal clash sparked by illegal migrants from Bangladesh.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Tuesday denied making any statement on making birth control mandatory but said he had only suggested a small family.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday announced a slew of stricter laws to fight corruption and amendments in the existing Lokayukta Act. Gogoi said, "The new anti-corruption legislations and the amendments to State Lokayukta Act will be tabled in the state assembly in the next budget session." "We were committed to tackling corruption even before Anna Hazare started his campaign. With that in mind, we will make amendments in the present Lokayukta Act," he said.
After offering prayers at the Kamakhya temple, Gogoi was slated to visit other religious places in Guwahati including churches and masjids to seek divine blessings. If his party wins these elections, it will be three in a row for them. Gogoi claimed before the media that the Congress was sure to win for the third time in a row and will form the next government in the state
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday called upon Paresh Barua, the fugitive commander-in-chief of the anti-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom, to join the ongoing peace process with his colleagues in the militant outfit, led by 'chairman' Arabinda Rajkhowa. Addressing the people of Assam on Independence Day in Guwahati, Gogoi said his government was sympathetic towards the misguided youth of the state in the ranks of various insurgent groups.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday said that like all other insurgent groups in truce with the government, the banned United Liberation Front of Assam too would have to enter into a formal agreement for suspension of operation and surrender weapons before starting dialogue with the government of India.
Set to retain power for the third consecutive term, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday said bringing all insurgents groups, including the United Liberation Front of Asom, to the negotiating table would be his main priority to ensure lasting peace in the state
After several days of intensive statehood agitation by various ethnic communities, the situation in Assam limped back to normalcy on Wednesday. Trains services were restored while movement of vehicles including trucks carrying essential commodities resumed on the highways connecting the Assam and the Northeast to the rest of the country.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday said the prime accused in the molestation case of a girl in Guwahati is in Bhubaneswar but has not been arrested so far.
Tarun Gogoi, who steered the Congress to a spectacular win in Assam, will be sworn-in as chief minister for the third consecutive term on Wednesday, Pradesh Congress Committee sources said on Monday.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday renewed appeal to anti-talk ULFA leader Paresh Barua and others to abjure violence and sit across the table to solve their problems through democratic means.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has said that a probe will be instituted to find out facts regarding alleged involvement of foreign hands in the recent Assam violence.
Scattered violence continued for the sixth day on Thursday in riot-torn lower Assam districts where one person was killed in police firing while four persons were injured in an attack by a group of persons in Baksa district.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Sunday said the insurgency situation in the state had assumed a new dimension with Maoists trying to strike an alliance with insurgent groups, and the involvement of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence in it.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday made it clear that any accord between the Centre and the NSCN(IM) should not compromise the territorial integrity of his state.
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Sunday took strong exception to a comment made by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's on Prime Minster Dr Manmohan Singh.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Thursday said some divisive forces were at work against restoration of peace in the state as a result of which violent incidents continued.
The Assam government has hailed the decision of the 'A' and 'C' companies of the 28 th battalion of the banned United Liberation Front of Asom to call a unilateral truce. The 28th battalion is considered the most potent force of the banned ULFA.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Sunday claimed that top leaders of the United Liberation Front of Asom who are either in captivity or out on bail were willing to hold talks with the government and had sent "feelers" to him in this regard.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Tuesday announced a Rs 100 crore grant for development of the flood-ravaged Dhemaji district in the state.
The Central and Assam governments are for immediate "direct talks" with the top leadership of United Liberation Front of Asom to resolve the insurgency problem of the state, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said on Tuesday.
Even as the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government is at loggerhead with yoga guru Baba Ramdev over the latter's tirade against corruption and black money in foreign banks, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has remembered that he had once ordered allotment of a plot of land to the yoga guru for his institution in Guwahati.
As Assam celebrated Rongali Bihu (spring festival) Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi took the opportunity to make a renewed appeal to armed insurgents groups still at large to come forward for dialogue with the government.
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said on Wednesday that the Maoists had been trying to set up base in Assam for the last three years to exploit the fluid situation in the insurgency-hit state, but in vain, thanks to alertness shown by the Assam police, a force with much experience in counter-insurgency operations.
He has made known his concern over the continuing violence in Assam and Bihar.
"The basic cause behind insurgency and Maoists activities or naxalism is frustration over lack of livelihood options. So we need to create jobs or source of income for youth in backward areas to prevent them from going astray. It is not true only in case of Assam but for the whole of the country," Gogoi said.
As an undercurrent of tension continues to grip the violence-hit Assam, Chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday called a meeting of all the political parties in the state to work out a joint and all-participating strategy to deal with the situation effectively in the interest of restoring peace and communal harmony in the state.
A judicial inquiry will be held to probe the violence in lower Assam even as the Central Bureau of Investigation has taken up seven cases related to the clashes that have claimed 77 lives so far. "We have decided on a judicial inquiry. This will be done at a much larger scale and cover the entire gamut of issues, including lapses by administration and recommendations for preventing such incidents in the future," Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said.
After the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's decision to have state owned newspapers and TV channels, it is the turn of Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to announce that his government would launch a TV channel of its own to highlight affairs in Assam positively as well as to counter "hyped-up news".