“I am going to take up the present flood situation with the Prime Minister and the UPA chairperson on Saturday,” Gogoi said in an official statement here. Over 20 lakh people have been badly affected in as many as three successive waves of floods that have hit Assam since June, while at least 32 persons have lost their lives.

Gogoi said he would also request all his ministers and MLAs, including those belonging to the Bodo people’s Front (BPF), the Congress party’s ally in the Government, to donate one month’s salary towards the flood-affected people of the state. “I have also requested all MPs to provide Rs 10 lakh each from their MPLAD funds,” he said.

Gogoi’s statement came after the AGP, BJP, AASU and other organisations not only complained of step-motherly attitude of the UPA towards the flood-affected people of Assam, but also asked the PM to vacate his Rajya Sabha seat from the state. MPs from the state have meanwhile said that they would not donate money for the Bihar flood victims as directed by the Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha chairman because funds were also required for the Assam flood victims.

Chief Minister Gogoi, however, denied that the UPA Government had discriminated against Assam. “As of today, we have Rs 783.74 crore, which is enough to deal with flood relief operations,” Gogoi said, accusing the AGP and BJP of playing politics over the floods. “It is ridiculous on the part of AGP to ask the Prime Minister to vacate his Rajya Sabha seat from the state. What moral right have they got? In fact, the AGP wants to deprive the people of the state from getting generous help and assistance from the PM. What the party is doing is not in the interests of the people of Assam,” Gogoi said.

“The AGP is launching a tirade against the Prime Minister just to gain political mileage and divert the people’s attention from its internal strife and their abject failure on all fronts when they were in power. But the people of Assam are very politically conscious and know AGP’s game plan,” he added.