Sonia Gandhi at an election rally in Assam's Shivsagar district.
Highlights
- Sonia Gandhi addresses rally in Assam's Shivsagar district
- She said Modi appreciates tea workers, but doesn't know their condition
- Tarun Gogoi got minimum wages of tea workers increased, she said
Days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he once sold Assam tea, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi hit back today -- saying he knows little of the condition of Assam's tea workers.
"Modi appreciates tea workers. But Modi doesn't know their real condition," Mrs Gandhi said at a rally in Shivsagar, Assam, where assembly elections will begin shortly.
It was the Congress and its three-time Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, who protested and increased the minimum wages of tea workers, she said, alleging, "everyone knows" how the Modi government has dealt with Assam.
PM Modi, she said, refused to give food when Assam was battling flood. She accused him also consulting states that "would get affected" by the Naga accord and taking away the "special status to Assam accorded by the UPA government".
Criticising PM Modi further for his age-related digs at Mr Gogoi, she added, "Why are you insulting people of Assam, Chief Minister Gogoi?"
Last week, while campaigning for BJP's chief minister candidate Sarbananda Sonowal, PM Modi on two separate occasions had told people that Mr Gogoi was 90 and Assam needed a younger and more dynamic leader.
"Assam's neta, and he'll be 90 in a few days, he said my fight is with Modi. Sir, you are so elderly, I am young. Our culture says the young don't fight the old. So I have no fight with Gogoi," Mr Modi had said.
Reminding the people of the achievements of the chief minister, Mrs Gandhi today said, "Before this, Assam was known for militancy and violence... under Tarun Gogoi, Assam has emerged as a progressive state."