Himanta's Twitter photos fakes : Congress

Guwahati, Mar 05: The Assam Congress on Fridaycalled the photos of tea gardens shared by senior minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on the Twitter as 'fake' and said they were not used by the party in its poll campaign.

The photos were those of the tea gardens of Taiwan and were definitely not used by Congress in its 'Axom Bachao Ahok' (Come, Let Us Save Assam) campaign as alleged by Sarma, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Bobbeeta Sharma told PTI.

BJP is rattled as people who want progress to return in the state are connecting with the Congress and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's visit to the poll-bound state has left the saffron party worried, she said.

The two-phased state election is slated for March 27 and April 1.

Sarma, the state finance minister and senior BJP leader of the north east, had tweeted twice on Thursday under the hashtag #CongressInsultsAssam claiming that the pictures used for the party's campaign were those of tea gardens of Taiwan.

In the first tweet, he said 'official Congress campaign page is using photo of tea garden from Taiwan to say 'Assam Bachao'. Congress leaders can't even recognise Assam? This is an insult of Assam and Tea Garden workers of our state'.

In the second tweet, the minister said, 'first Congress couldn't identify Assam, now Congress can't even recognise Assamese people.This is again a pic from Taiwan.

Congress leaders have forgotten Assam. Let's show @INCIndia how beautiful our land is'.

The APCC spokesperson said that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra'sannouncement of five guarantees to the people of Assam has 'disconcerted the BJP who are bereft of any issue and are thus resorting to such false propaganda against the Congress'.

Her five gurantees are a law to nullify the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, five lakh government jobs, raising the wages of tea garden workers to Rs 365, free electricity up to 200 units per household and Rs 2,000 monthly income support to homemakers if congress is voted to power in the state.

The BJP could not keep its promise of increasing the daily wage for tea garden workers to Rs 351 and only after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi committed to increase it to Rs 365 it hastily increased Rs 50 under immense pressure, the Congress spokesman said.

'We have guaranteed that within 30 days of forming the government, we will make it Rs 365 and this has been done after consultation with all stakeholders which is feasible', she added.