New Chief Minister: Letters to The Editor

I thanked the MLAs of the BJP for making Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma the Chief Minister of Assam. After seven decades, the people of Assam got a Brahmin as the Chief Minister. About seventy years ago, in 1950, Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi had been appointed as the Chief Minister of Assam. He belonged to the Ganak Brahman, a cast of Brahman Samaj. Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi worked with dedication without any corrupt practice. He was loved by all. Everything has changed with the change of time. I wish newly-elected Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma would perform his duty by recalling Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi for the wellness of the State.

Pranjal Kr. Sharma

Morigaon

One of the five

best states in India

Assam's new Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that his government would make Assam one of the best five states in India. We cannot but welcome the Chief Minister's promise. However, promises made and promises fulfilled are two different things. Undoubtedly, Himanta Biswa Sarma is an efficient and talented politician, and these two qualities will help him to succeed in the political field. Assam is a poor state in India, and the state is beset by numerous problems. To make Assam prosperous, the government would have to able to collect sufficient revenue in the first instance. Secondly, it is needful to have proper use of public money. Thirdly, the government must develop both economic and social infrastructure in the state. Moreover, the government would have to fulfil the demands of the indigenous people in the State. The demands that the indigenous people in Assam have raised are deportation of foreigners from the state, freeing Assam from the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord. If the BJP-led government works sincerely, Assam will certainly become one of the best five states in India.

Maheswar Deka

Rangia

New CM

Through the columns of your esteemed daily, I take the opportunity to offer accolades and praise to the conscious, enlightened electors of Assam for reposing faith in the good works done by the Government of Assam during the last five years.

Developmental activities and people-friendly works executed in the last tenure have contributed immensely to re-electing the BJP led government in Assam. Most importantly, while crumbling, collapsed health infrastructure in Delhi, U.P, Maharashtra and Gujarat, Assam has been an example of good planning and execution to avert human tragedy to a great extent, so far. Kudos to the Health Minister of the previous regime. With his relentless, selfless service backed up by meticulous planning, the deadly second wave is being fought manfully, so far. While most of the so-called progressive Indian states are running short of life-saving oxygen and ICU beds, reassuring for us to hear the availability of Oxygen, ICU beds and other logistics.

The verdict in the present election highlights the prudence of the electorate of Assam.

We are confident of Assam ushering in a new era of development and prosperity under the leadership of Dr Himant Biswa Sarma.

Gautam Ganguly

Guwahati

In the run-up to CM

Assam got a promising and far-sighted Chief Minister in Himanta Biswa Sharma. His appointment as the Chief Minister has created a festive atmosphere among the younger generation.

Himanta, who has been exploring parliamentary politics under the late Hiteshwar Saikia of the Congress, has in a very short period elevated himself to a shrewd and skilled political leader. Former Cottonian Himanta, who has been able to prove his mettle in several key departments during the Late Tarun Gogoi-led Congress, resigned from the Gogoi Cabinet on August 23, 2015. The main reason for his resignation was dissatisfaction with the party's work. Immediately after his resignation, there was a strong reaction in the political arena of the state. The political landscape of Assam has completely changed. The extraordinary success of the far-sighted Himanta's political career has been due to his political wisdom, tolerance, eloquence, prudence, resilience, hard-working mental strength, sacrifice, intelligence, attractive personality, etc. In addition, the team leadership qualities were truly admirable. Such eye-catching qualities of Sharma were observed by the students and teachers of Cotton College, a higher education institution, from 1988 to 1992 when he was the general secretary for three consecutive terms. Perhaps, that is why all the students and teachers of that time firmly believed that Himanta would one day be the Chief Minister of Assam. His academic credentials and qualifications are undeniable. Sharma initiated a groundbreaking change in the State in 2006 when he became the Cabinet Minister for Health and Family Welfare in the days of the Congress government. Accordingly, he established three medical colleges at Tezpur, Barpeta and Jorhat. In addition, under his direction, construction of medical colleges at Dhubri, Diphu, Nagaon, North Lakhimpur and Kokrajhar is underway at a later stage. It is pertinent to note that due to his efforts, super specialization courses in several important subjects have been started at Guwahati Medical College such as Urology, Neurosurgery, Cardiology, Neurology etc.

Heramba Nath

Kamrup

Revival of Nagaon and Cachar Paper Mills

This is about the editorial "List of priorities for the new Government" (Sentinel-May 5 ). The author has pointed out the challenges in front of the new government from prevailing Covid-19 pandemic to perennial flood issue giving top priority to manage the pandemic. Through this column, I would like to bring to the kind notice of the new Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to initiate necessary steps at the earliest for the revival of the Nagaon and Cachar Paper Mills which had been promised by the Home Minister Amit Shah in an election campaign at Barpeta Road. The Home Minister had said that the closed paper industries would be revived and paper produced with locally available bamboo would be dispatched to different parts of the country as a step forward towards 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat'.

We feel that the new BJP-led alliance Government would do justice to the employees of the two paper mills who had been suffering financially a lot due to the closure of the two once profit-making mills for the last three years. It may also be noted that Assam is an industrially backward state and if the new Government is determined in true sense to make Assam one of the five most developed states of the country, there is no alternative but to go for industrialization of the State. Setting up of small, medium and heavy industries and revival of sick and closed industries is a must to achieve this goal and will help to provide jobs as well to ten lakh unemployed youths of the state as committed, besides economic growth of the State.

Samir Rajkhowa

Bapuji Nagar, Jorhat-6