Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday promised to raise daily wage of Assam's tea workers to Rs 365 from the current Rs 167 per day.
In his public rally ahead of the Assam elections, Gandhi said, "Assam's tea garden workers get Rs 167 per day wage while traders in Gujarat get tea gardens. We promise to give tea garden workers of Assam Rs 365 per day wage. Where will the money come from? It will come from Gujarat's traders".
The Congress MP held the rally in Assam's Sivasagar ahead of the assembly elections due in March-April.
Rahul and other Congress leaders wore a "gamcha" with "No CAA" printed on it. He further accused BJP and RSS of dividing Assam, while his party would protect every principle of the Assam Accord and will never implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act if voted to power in the state.
Taking a dig at the prime minister, the Union home minister and "businessmen close to them", Gandhi said, "I have devised a new slogan for Assam -- Hum do, humare do; Assam ke liye humare aur do, aur sab kuch loot lo."
The CAA, passed in 2019 by the BJP government at the Centre, promises fast-tracked citizenship to members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014. The law faced protests across the country, including in Assam where people alleged that it would be used to change the demography by granting citizenship to Bangladeshi immigrants who arrived in Assam illegally.
Responding to Rahul Gandhi's statement, Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "Nobody is discussing CAA. You can check social media. People are busy discussing that Assam has given scooty to girl students, and which two-wheeler the boys will get. Congress is behind by 50 years, brings up stale issues."
Gandhi also said, "that the Congress government under the leadership of former chief minister Tarun Gogoi had brought peace to Assam by ending the era of violence."
(With inputs from ANI)
