Assam Finance Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma had in a press conference on October 31 claimed that the state government had fulfilled ninety percent of the promises made in the consecutive budget plans in the last four financial years.
But as per official information presented by the finance department in the Assam assembly, from 2016/17 to 2019/20, in four financial years, Rs 1 lakh 34 thousand 898 crores have been left unspent. This amount is bigger than the total budget in an entire year by the state government.
In such a situation, questions arise as to on what basis the finance minister is claiming this massive success. The minister had further challenged to present the expenditure certificate of the same.
Questions also arise as to whether the minister has bluffed in such a scenario and if this was only a gimmick to woo voters ahead of the 2012 assembly polls.
It may be mentioned that the legislative assembly elections are scheduled to be held in Assam around April 2021 and the political parties are in full swing with the campaigns in order to compete with the display of strength in the democratic process.