Day Before Polling, Manmohan Singh Urges Assam to ‘Vote Wisely’
The senior Congress leader said that society is undergoing a division on the basis of religion, culture & language.
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A day ahead of the Assembly polls in Assam, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in a video appeal on Friday, 26 March, urged the people to “vote wisely”, saying that they should vote for a government that upholds the principles of democracy and values of the Constitution of India.
The 88-year-old said, “The people of Assam enabled me to serve our country as the Finance Minister for five years and then as Prime Minister for 10 years. Today, I am speaking as one of you. Once again the time has come for you to cast your ballot. You must vote wisely.”
Referring to Assam as his “second home”, the senior congress leader said that people of Assam had endured terrible suffering through a long period of insurgency and unrest, and under the leadership of Congress’ Tarun Gogoi from 2001 to 2016, the state made a “new beginning” towards peace and development.
After 15 years, the Congress in Assam, led by former CM Tarun Gogoi, lost power to the BJP in 2016.
The former PM said that Assam is now facing a “very serious setback” and stressed that the society is undergoing a division “on the basis of religion, culture and language”.
“The basic rights are being denied to the common man. There is an atmosphere of tension and of fear. The ill-conceived note-ban and badly implemented Goods and Services Tax (GST) have weakened the economy,” Singh added.
He went on to urge citizens of Assam to vote for a government that will “care for every citizen and community”, and “will ensure inclusive growth”.
Saying that the Congress is committed to protecting the language, culture and history of Assam, he listed out the five promises of the party’s manifesto, which includes not implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Assam, set to witness the Assembly elections in three phases, will begin its first phase of polling on Saturday. Polling will end on 6 April and the results will be declared on 2 May.
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