AICC general secretary and the

AICC general secretary and the

party in-charge of Assam, Harish Rawat Monday said the killing of five persons in Tinsukia made it clear that Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has failed to maintain law and order in the state.

The senior leaders of the Congress, including former chief minister Tarun Gogoi have been warning the government for long that its "divisive policy" will lead to further deterioration of law and order but the state government failed to act, he told reporters here.

"The killing makes it clear that the state government has been negligent in maintaining law and order. This has been further compounded by the fact that the killers are yet to be traced and apprehended," he said.

 

Moreover, the chief minister has not assured the people that such an incident will not take place again. "Just giving Rs five lakh to the victims' families is not enough and much more is expected from him", Rawat said.

The five people, including three of a family, were killed and two others injured at Kheronibari village under Dholla police station limits in Tinsukia on the night of November 1.

Congress condemns the incident, he said adding on behalf of party president Rahul Gandhi he extended his deepest condolences to members of the bereaved families.

Turning to the NRC exercise in Assam, he hailed Supreme Court's decision to include five documents in the list of 15 on the basis of which it can be carried out.

"The state government through the NRC state coordinator had again resorted to divisive politics of attempting to get five documents rejected for the verification process. We are thankful that the Supreme Court has rejected it", he added.

The Congress will never resort to politics on the NRC and "We hope genuine Indian citizens will be given justice as we view it as a logical conclusion of the Assam Accord which the people of the state want", the AICC secretary said.

Referring to the issue of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, Rawat said that the BJP rakes up the issue only before polls.

"The matter pertaining to the dispute is before the Supreme Court and will come up for hearing in January. It is time that Prime Minister Narendra Modi makes it clear whether BJP has faith in the judiciary or not".

Former Duliajan MLA Amiya Gogoi rejoined Congress and Assamese actor Nayan Nirban Baruah joined it.

"Our doors are always open for people who believe in peace, prosperity and development of Assam and those who are determined to defeat the divisive forces of BJP", he added.