Guwahati: In what might tarnish the image of the first term of the BJP government in Assam, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said that his driver had obtained a job by paying a bribe of Rs 20,000 about five to six years back.
Although Sarma said this to impress a huge audience while distributing appointment letters to 22,958 posts in 11 government departments on Saturday, his example inadvertently made it clear that corruption and a system of cash for the job were prevalent in the first term of the BJP government, led by his predecessor former Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
“My driver is a policeman. When I was coming to this venue today, I asked him how he got the job, he said he had to pay Rs 20,000. This happened about five to six years back," Sarma said while addressing the audience.
The example, however, inadvertently indicated that corruption was prevalent in the state about five to six years back, which was during the first term of the BJP led government between 2016 to 2021.
The Chief Minister, while addressing the gathering, appealed to the new appointees to be honest and transparent and said that everyone must take an oath to fight against corrupt practices. He also said that there was corruption in Assam police too in the past.
Distributing the appointment letters to 22,958 youths including 8,000 from the police department, the Chief Minister also appealed to the newly recruited cops to treat all elderly persons as their parents while on duty.
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