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| AAMSU activists take out a rally in Bongaigaon on Sunday to protest against Deka’s comments. Picture by UB Photos |
Guwahati, July 28: The controversy over Assam agriculture minister Nilamani Sen Deka’s comment that a resident of the state can have a full meal for only Rs 2.50 has refused to die down with one of his ministerial colleagues, Himanta Biswa Sarma, terming such comment “unfortunate” before 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
“No comment that hurts the common people should be made by anyone. Such controversial comments should be avoided by those in the Congress since their leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are making every possible effort to remove poverty from the country. No one should ridicule poverty,” Sarma, who is the health and education minister, told reporters on the sidelines of an official function at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital here today.
Sarma’s comment has come a day after chief minister Tarun Gogoi distanced himself from Deka’s comment saying it was purely an individual’s opinion and the government had absolutely nothing to do with it. Gogoi said Deka’s comment was based on a “hypothetical” situation.
Deka, agriculture and parliamentary affairs minister and seen to be close to Gogoi, made the comment on Friday to some local news channels.
According to Deka, a family of eight can have a full meal for Rs 20 (Rs 2.50 per individual) because of largescale production of rice and vegetables in Assam.
“Out of Rs 20, a family can buy 1kg of rice at Rs 6 and they can spend the rest for buying vegetables and other items to prepare a meal,” Deka had told TV reporters.
Asked whether Deka should withdraw his comment, Sarma who was once very close to Gogoi said the chief minister should take a final call on such issues.
The comment has drawn sharp criticism from AASU. The students’ union today dared Deka to start distributing meal at Rs 2.50 to every individual at Janata Bhawan (state secretariat).
“The agriculture minister has made a strange and absurd comment. His formula of having meal at Rs 2.50 is also strange. His comment has proved that he does not have any feeling for the people who are suffering because of skyrocketing prices of essential commodities,” AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharjya told this correspondent.
The Assam PCC, too, distanced itself from Deka’s statement.
“It is not a statement of the party and we do not want to react to any individual’s comment. We do not get a meal at Rs 2.50 and if I make such a statement it will be nothing but ridiculous,” APCC chief spokesperson Mehdi Alam Bora told reporters at Rajiv Bhawan, the party’s headquarters, here this afternoon.
Deka today told a section of TV reporters that he stands by his comment and will prove it correct with figures soon. “My comment on the price of meal was meant for BPL families. The controversy over my comment is part of a political conspiracy against me,” he said.