'Congress Default Setting For Assam, Country': Pawan Khera To NDTV

The Congress is the default setting for Assam and for the rest of the country, and the people will go back to it, senior party leader Pawan Khera said at the NDTV Assam The Great Brahmaputra Dialogue. Khera, chairman of the Congress's media wing, spoke to NDTV's Ankit Tyagi on the many aspects of the high-voltage elections in Assam, also called the gateway to the Northeast.

The Congress, he said, is ready for the polls, in which the BJP and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma are eyeing a second term. Asked about criticism that the Congress is focused on targeting the Election Commission instead of taking on the BJP, he replied, "Our focus is not against the Election Commission. Our focus is for a fair election. Anybody coming in the way of a fair election, obviously, we'll raise our voice against, and that's what we've been doing."

To a question on senior Assam Congress leaders, including former state party chief Bhupen Bora, joining the BJP, Khera replied, "If I were to tell you that we had a list of suspects who will cross over, will you believe me? Well, there actually was a list and some of the names you mentioned were prominently on that list." Asked why the party did not take pre-emptive action, he said, "We continue to count on people's conscience. Why should we push them out? They want to go, let them expose themselves, let them go. Why should we become the villain of a wrongdoing done by someone else?"

When it was pointed out that most of these leaders targeted state Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi while switching to the BJP, Khera said whoever switches parties will come up with some accusations against the party he is quitting.

To a question on the Himanta Biswa Sarma government's transfer of Rs 9000 to the accounts of women from 40 lakh families just before the polls are announced, Khera said Sarma is a student who has not studied throughout the year and is making a desperate effort right before an exam. "For five years, he has not done enough, not done anything at all... he's doing everything at the last minute. People know," he said.

Khera also said that if the BJP had worked for the people during these five years, it would not need to rely on issues like infiltration. "Just see the data. When the UPA was in power, how many immigrants did we throw out? 48,089. In the last 12 years, and this is the Home Ministry data, how many have they removed? 2,586. This data will expose their claims."

Asked if this election is a contest between Gaurav Gogoi and Sarma, he replied, "It is between the people of Assam and Gaurav Gogoi on the one side and Himanta Biswa Sarma and Narendra Modi on the other side."

To a question about the Congress's declining vote-share in Assam, Khera replied, "These are cyclical political processes. This is a process that has to complete its circle, and that circle is now complete. People do want to give someone a chance, maybe two chances, but when they realise that they have been betrayed twice over, obviously, they will go back to their choice, which is the Congress. Congress, I keep repeating, is the default setting of this state, like it is the default setting of the country."