BJP lok Sabha MP from Dibrugarh lok Sabha constituency Rameswar Teli stirred a controversy in poll-bound Assam by saying that the litterateurs across the country returned their Sahitya Akademy awards as part of a conspiracy.
Teli said this while addressing a Press conference at Dibrugarh on Tuesday. He said that the litterateurs have taken about Rs10 to Rs15 lakh from the Congress and returned their awards and award money.
“You’ll notice that all these people, who have returned the awards, are all those who had received the awards during the Congress regime. They have taken around Rs10 to Rs15 lakh from the Congress and returned the awards to criticise Narendra Modi-led NDA Government at the Centre,” said Teli.
It may be mentioned here that following several renowned litterateurs returning the Akademy awards, Assam’s popular-noted litterateur Homen Borgohain had also announced returning of the award in protest against “growing religious intolerance” in the country.
later, Teli, however, said that he had not named Homen Borgohain while talking about the litterateurs across the country and quickly apologised if his comments had hurt the sentiments of Homes Borgohain in any way.
The remarks of Teli, however, drew flak from several sections in Assam immediately with political parties and social organisations reacting sharply against the allegation of the BJP MP.
“We condemn the remark of Teli and it is unfortunate that an elected representative had levelled such an allegation against Homes Borgohain, a litterateur per excellence in Assam. Homen Borgohain is one of the pioneers of Assam’s social life and the remark of Teli is condemnable,” said Assam’s regional political party Asom Gana Parishad (AGP).
Farmers’ leader and activist Akhil Gogoi also condemned the statement of Teli and said that the MP had said gone out of his mind to make the statement. “Teli does not have any standing in Assam’s social life and so his statements are meaningless,” said Gogoi.