Pointing fingers at the ruling BJP, the opposition Congress in Assam have demanded chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal’s resignation over the job recruitment scam in the state’s police department.
The Assam unit of the Congress staged a protest rally in Guwahati on Wednesday seeking the resignation of Sonowal over the police recruitment scam. Congress’s state unit president Ripun Bora and MLA Rakibul Hussain and dozens of party workers were detained by the police.
The written exam to recruit T587 sub-inspectors (SI) was cancelled on September 20 after the question paper got leaked and was found circulating on Whatsapp. Nearly 64,000 applicants were scheduled to appear for the examination.
At present, the crime branch and criminal investigation department (CID) are probing the leak and have arrested over a dozen suspects. However, a retired IPS officer and a BJP leader, both believed to have played a key role in providing applicants with question papers in lieu of cash, are absconding.
“Sonowal should resign on moral grounds and seek a fresh mandate from the people in view of the government’s failure to keep electoral promises and exposure of multiple recruitment scams including the latest one in the police,” said Congress MLA and leader of opposition in assembly Debabrata Saikia.
“After coming to power the government headed by Sonowal has been depriving jobs to eligible youth by operating illegal job syndicates and the SI recruitment scam is the latest one. The nefarious racket is being operated from the CM’s secretariat with involvement of various BJP leaders,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“After coming to power the government headed by Sonowal has been depriving jobs to eligible youth by operating illegal job syndicates and the SI recruitment scam is the latest one. The nefarious racket is being operated from the CM’s secretariat with involvement of various BJP leaders,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Sonowal on Wednesday reiterated the government’s resolve in ensuring that all accused involved in the police recruitment scam are nabbed and brought to justice. He also assured that no deserving young men will be deprived of jobs because of such scams.
“Within 15 minutes of the reported leak of the question papers, the state government cancelled the examination and ordered an inquiry. There have been several cases of question paper leaks under various governments since 1952, but never did any government act so expeditiously and transparently,” he said in a programme in Guwahati.