Row over Congress using Taiwan tea garden pic for campaigning

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 4

The BJP on Thursday attacked rival Congress for using pictures of Taiwanese tea garden in campaign posters for poll-bound Assam.

Assam BJP strongman Himanta Biswa Sarma led the offensive floating “Congress insults Assam” tagline to attack the Congress.

“The official Congress campaign page is using a photo of tea gardens from Taiwan to say ‘Assam Bachao’. Congress leaders can’t even recognise Assam? This is an insult of Assam and tea garden workers of our state. The Congress insults Assam,” said Assam minister Sarma.

He later tweeted more pictures to say, “First Congress couldn’t identify Assam, now Congress can’t even recognise Assamese people. This is again a picture from Taiwan. Congress leaders have forgotten Assam. Let’s show Congress how beautiful our land is.”

The Congress went ahead with its campaign releasing a registration drive for job guarantee promised earlier this week by party’s start campaigner Priyanka Vadra.

Assam Congress chief Ripun Bora said the party, if voted to power, would create five lakh jobs. “More than 1,000 job guarantees given out with just two hours of registration launch. This speaks volumes about people’s faith in Congress’ ideology and leadership,” tweeted Bora on a day when Prithviraj Chavan, AICC screening panel chief for Assam, held his first meeting in Guwahati.

TMC seeks removal of ‘biased’ poll official

Accusing Deputy Election Commissioner Sudeep Jain of bias, Derek O’Brien, Trinamool Congress leader in Rajya Sabha, on Thursday sought removal of Jain as “in-charge of Election Commission of India in West Bengal for the Assembly elections, 2021”. O’Brien, while writing “on behalf of All India Trinamool Congress” to the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal, said the TMC did not have faith in Jain whose actions smacked of bias in favour of the BJP. tns