Congress supporters perch on trees to catch a glimpse of their leaders in Sualkuchi on Saturday. (PTI)

Jorhat, April 1: On the eve of the Assembly elections in Assam, chief minister Tarun Gogoi flaunted a Rs 1,000-crore surplus balancesheet as his government?s achievement during the past five years.

Gogoi told reporters here today that on March 31, 2006, the government?s financial position was Rs 1,000 crore surplus, contrary to the Rs 500-crore deficit in the 2000-2001 fiscal when the Congress government had assumed office.

The chief minister, who is the candidate from Titabor constituency, attended several rallies in his constituency throughout the day as canvassing for the first phase of elections in the state drew to a close this afternoon.

Gogoi said even after paying salaries regularly to the employees and carrying out largescale development work, the government had been able to turn Assam?s financial situation for the better with surplus funds.

?This (surplus) achievement shows what false charges the Opposition has been spreading against my government. The AGP had left the treasury empty. But we worked hard, planned carefully and reached this stage,? he said.

Criticising the Opposition parties for misleading the people about the Congress government, Gogoi said in the last financial year (2005-2006) the government did not draw an overdraft or close the treasury for even a day. Drawing a parallel with the previous AGP government, he pointed out that in 2000-2001, there was an overdraft for 295 days of the 365 days in a year and the treasury was closed for 175 days.

The chief minister also announced that he had ordered an inquiry, to be conducted by the civil supplies department, on the recent rise in cement prices.

Taking a swipe at the Opposition parties which tried to dazzle the electorate with Bollywood stars and politicians from outside the state, Gogoi said the AGP and the BJP were bringing people who knew nothing about Assam and had no concern about the state.

?Since they (the Opposition) have no issue to attract the people, they tried to draw the crowds by inviting Bollywood stars. Otherwise, people would not listen to Brindaban Goswami?s false propaganda,? he said.

Taking a dig at Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for spreading false accusations against his government, Gogoi said Naidu did not know anything about Assam.