Narendra Modi acting as a 'superman': Tarun Gogoi

New Delhi, Feb 24: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today came down heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he was acting as a "superman" who could do everything and taking credits for projects launched by the previous UPA regime.

Addressing a press conference here, he said Modi has recently inaugurated a number of projects, including a Rs 10,000 crore gas cracker unit, in Assam and trying to take credit for their implementation.

"Modi is projecting that everything has been done in the past two years. It is being projected that he is a super human being, he is a superman. But all these projects were initiated during UPA's time," he said.

The 79-year-old Congress veteran described Modi as a "super marketing manager" who is not ready to even give credit to BJP's own Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee, least the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

"But it does not work all the time. It did not work in Bihar, it will not work in Assam (in the coming assembly polls). Congress will get absolute majority on its own," he claimed.

Gogoi said Congress will defeat BJP in the coming polls and BJP's chief ministerial candidate Sarbananda Sonowal was no match to him.

"My fight is not against Sarbananda but Modi. My fight is against Hindutva and the great injustice meted out to Assam and the northeast by the NDA government," he said.

Asked whether his once close confidant Himanta Biswa Sarma's joining of BJP would have any impact on Congress' prospect in elections, Gogoi said Himanta's departure from Congress was a blessing in disguise for Congress.

"Himanta will be a curse for BJP and bring destruction for the party," he said.

Commenting on an online opinion poll, which predicted BJP's victory in the polls, likely to take place in April-May, Gogoi dismissed it saying such results could be "managed" by anyone.

Asked about an award given by a national business daily for Assam's "success" in power sector, Gogoi said he was "surprised" when he heard about the award.

"I myself was surprised why I was given the award for work in power sector. Had it been in sectors like road or education, the story would have been different. But an award for power sector was a surprise for me. People are criticising me for this. They are criticising rightly," he said.

He admitted that of the around 21,000 villages in Assam, only 8,348 were fully electrified while nearly 12,000 were only partially electrified.

"There is no electricity in 1,000 villages, they are in complete darkness," he said.

Gogoi also criticised NDA government for allegedly taking away the special state status granted to Assam.

PTI