Tarun Gogoi slams Smriti Irani, says Assam women in better condition than BJP-ruled states

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Tuesday came out with statistics in BJP-ruled states to claim that the condition of women was better in Assam than in many states, a day after union HRD Minister Smriti Irani attacked the Congress government in the state over atrocities on women.

Gogoi said that in 2014, as many as 19,139 cases of atrocities against women were registered in Assam, while BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh registered 28,678 cases of crime against women during the same year.

"In Maharashtra, 26,690 cases of crimes against women were registered in 2014," he said.

At a public rally in Nalbari district on Monday, Irani said 75,000 cases of atrocities against women have been registered in Assam in the last 10 years and that women were not safe in Congress-ruled Assam.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Gogoi said: "The number of women committing suicide in Assam was 1,036 in 2014. The statistics for women's suicides in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat was 3,678, 4,474, and 2,672, respectively, during the same year."

"Assam has also done well as far as female literacy, which is 63 percent compared to 52 percent in MP, 62 percent in Gujarat and a mere 45 percent in Rajasthan," Gogoi said.

He slammed the BJP and said the party has been sending union ministers to Assam and other parts of the northeast just for the sake of politics and not for taking up development work.

"Recently, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj came to Assam, and held a meeting with businessmen only. What business does a foreign minister have with businessmen of Guwahati," the chief minister asked.

"I welcome her (Sushma Swaraj's) visit to Assam. But she should have met with the state government to discuss issues like cross-border infiltration, militant activities in Myanmar and the issue of China building a dam on the Brahmaputra. But she had no time to meet us," he said.

Gogoi slammed Irani, saying the human resource development minister has failed to bring any new package to educational institutions of Assam.