Ahom 'general' Gogoi dares 'Mughal commander' PM Modi

GUWAHATI: Chief minister Tarun Gogoi, in his campaign speech in Majuli on Friday, sharpened his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He likened Modi to Mughal invaders and compared the upcoming polls to the Battle of Saraighat in which the Ahom army had defeated the Mughals.
"Modi is the Mughal commander and I am Lachit Borphukan's. If the Mughals enter, they will destroy Assamese culture," Gogoi thundered in the island constituency, which forms the nerve centre of the state's Vaishnavite culture.BJP's chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal is contesting from Majuli.
Accusing Modi of trying to capture Assam with false promises, Gogoi ridiculed him for his "Gogoi is Go Go Go..." remarks during a speech in Majuli. "Modi insulted me by saying go, go, go. BJP wants me to die, but I will not die. I will live for another 10 years to fight the saafron party," Gogoi said.
Attacking BJP's promise of building a bridge to Majuli, Gogoi said, "I had proposed a bridge long ago but the satradhikars (heads of religious centres called satras) opposed it. We respect Majuli as a heritage site. BJP insults it by inaugurating a bridge, but not sanctioning funds for its construction. They say the bridge will be built at a cost of Rs 10,000 crore. Where is the budget allocation for this? No DPR for the bridge has been prepared, but Nitin Gadkari has already laid the foundation."
Taking a dig at Modi's 'acchhe din' campaign in the Lok Sabha election, Gogoi said, "Last time, Modi promised acchhe din. This time, he has promised sarbananda (happiness for all). He no longer talks of acchhe din."
Taking on Sonowal, Gogoi said the BJP's CM candidate does not have the courage to contest from his birthplace Dibrugarh. "Sarbananda is a new BJP member. He was with AGP and no one knows where he will go from here. He has contested from so many places that no one knows from where he will contest the next time," Gogoi said.
Describing Sonowal as a 'migratory bird', Gogoi appealed to the islanders to vote for Congress's Rajib Lochan Pegu.
At his wittiest best, Gogoi also poked fun at BJP's Smriti Irani and Hema Malini and said the support of the women of Majuli is sufficient for him to win the election.