Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday that he would welcome people from across the country and abroad to visit the state and he will be happy if it becomes an ”international political epicentre” as long as revenue comes in.
Reacting to the arrival of Shiv Sena’s Eknath Shinde led dissident MLAs from Maharashtra, the Chief Minister said that Guwahati has many luxury hotels and if the rooms are full ”we should be happy as it will bring in revenue, we will earn through GST and we need it during these difficult times of devastating floods in the state”.
Asked whether he will meet the dissident MLAs, the Chief Minister said that there ”is no need for me to meet them. I am busy dealing with the flood situation in the state. I will visit Nagaon today and Silchar on Thursday”, the Chief Minister said on the sidelines of a function here.
”If I can manage, maybe I will meet them for five minutes. In the meantime, some of my legislator colleagues are in touch with them”, he said.
”Why should there be any reason for any controversy regarding their visit? We welcome all tourists to visit the state now as we need funds to deal with the devastating floods. Why should we turn away ‘Goddess Lakshmi’ when most of our hotels are vacant or have low occupancy during this period?
”I will be happy if the state becomes an international political epicenter and I urge all to visit the state, so that we can earn revenue to deal with the situation”, he said.
Shinde, who along with a group of dissident Shiv Sena and independent MLAs, arrived here early on Wednesday claimed that 40 MLAs from Maharashtra have accompanied him to Assam’s Guwahati and they are ”committed to Balasaheb Thackeray’s ‘Hindutva’ ideology which we want to take it forward”.
Asked why they had come to Guwahati, he said, “It is a nice place”.
Assam is currently ruled by a BJP-led government.
The rebel MLAs from Maharashtra were received at Guwahati’s Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi international airport by BJP MP from Assam Pallab Lochan Das and legislator Sushanta Borgohain.
The legislators from the western state were taken to a luxury hotel on the outskirts of the city in three buses of the Assam State Transport Corporation with police protection.
Asked about the developments, Borgohain said, “People known to us have come here and so we have come to receive them.”
Tight security is in place with a huge posse of police personnel posted in and around the hotel where the legislators from the western state are lodged.
The Shiv Sena, which heads the MVA, has 55 MLAs, followed by allies the NCP (53) and the Congress (44) in the 288-member assembly where the current simple majority mark is 144.
Earlier, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut claimed that 14 to 15 Sena MLAs, including some ministers, are with Shinde in Gujarat’s Surat city.
However, another party leader had said the number could be 23.
This is for the first time that the rebel MLAs outside the northeast region have been brought to Assam.
Sources said the decision was taken to shift the rebel legislators from BJP-ruled Gujarat to Assam as the Shiv Sena does not have any supporter base here and the possibility of any protest is remote, a source in the saffron party said.
The MLAs were taken to Surat from Mumbai on Tuesday and the decision to shift them to Guwahati was taken on security grounds, according to another BJP source.
The Shiv Sena-led government in Maharashtra is facing a crisis following the dissidence of a section of its MLA led by Shinde.
