Team News Riveting
Guwahati, March 26
When Congress stalwart Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s picture plucking tea leaves went viral, not many could establish the significance.
The tea tribes vote literally holds the key to power in Assam that goes to the state polls from Saturday. While making up 17 per cent of the state’s population, the voters from the tea tribes will be crucial to decide the fate of candidates in about 40 out of 47 constituencies that will go to the polls in the first phase of elections tomorrow. The state assembly has a strength of 126 members.
Of the 47 seats, 42 are in the 11 districts of Upper Assam and North Assam, and five in Central Assam’s Nagaon district. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress, which is desperate to return to power, are pulling all the strings to lure the tea voters.
While the Congress has been recalling the measures it has taken while in power for the age-old tea industry workers, BJP government led by Sarbananda Sonowal has launched a lucrative scheme in the presence of Union Finance Minister Nirmala that entailed transferring Rs 3,000 each to the bank accounts of 7,46,667 tea workers in Assam.
The Congress leader, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra charged that the BJP government had only promised to raise the daily wage but the same has not been implemented. But the BJP is confident that it will not be a major poll plank even as Sonowal alleged that the previous Congress government has deprived the tea workers of their rights.
A promise to hike the wages of plantation workers to Rs 351 has not been fulfilled but the government did announce a hike of Rs 50 that has given some hope to the tea tribe voters. The tea garden workers were now earning Rs 167.
The tea workers say the ‘Cha Bagichar Dhan Puraskar’ scheme has given them some respite. They feel some amount of developmental work has happened in the tea garden areas and the government has been vocal about the need for their growth and also for sustainable livelihood.
The ruling BJP has reason to smile!
