2 different figures given by Assam govt in Assembly on number of foreigners detected

February 4: In a strange yet true development, State government of Assam gave two different figures in the Legislative Assembly on the number of foreigners detected in the state. On Monday, BJP legislator from Bokajan Numal Momin pointed out the matter in the assembly immediately after the Question Hour and he urged the Speaker to take strict action in the matter.

Giving a reply for the starred question number 36, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said a total of 1,03,764 persons were declared as foreigners from 1985 to August 2018. This question was raised by the ruling party MLA Binanda Kumar Saikia and was taken up for discussion during the Question Hour.

Whereas, in a separate query, which was unstarred question number 57, by Momin,Chandra Mohan Patowary gave a different figure and said 94,425 foreigners were detected from 1985 to August 2018.

In both the cases, Mr Patowary was replying on behalf of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who also holds the Home and Implementation of Assam Accord departments. Responding to the allegation, Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami assured the House to look into the matter.