Senior Assam Congress leader Ripun Bora has accused the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led government of creating the “highest level of financial irregularities in the history of Assam”, saying that the State government has broken all previous records of misuse of public money. He said these observations have come directly from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report for the financial year 2023-24.
Speaking to the media, Bora said that the Congress delayed their response only because they were carefully studying the entire CAG report. According to him, many irregularities have been highlighted and several of them are extremely serious in nature. He said that the party would be raising only some of the most important issues for the moment, while many others will be taken up later, as the report is very large and requires more time for detailed examination.
Bora said that the major findings show that since 2021, when Himanta Biswa Sarma took charge as Chief Minister, Assam has seen financial irregularities on a scale never seen before since 1952. According to him, the present government has broken every previous record relating to financial mismanagement, misuse of funds and irregular expenditure. 
He pointed out that for 2023-24, the budget estimate was around Rs 1 lakh 69 thousand 900 crore, while the expenditure shown was around Rs 1 lakh 39 thousand 400 crore. The Chief Minister claimed that the remaining money was saved, but Bora said the truth is completely different. According to him, the actual budget received by the State was only around Rs 1 lakh 38 thousand crore, which means that the claim of savings is false. “This is cheating and the CAG report has exposed everything,” he said.
The Congress leader further alleged that this is “shameful for Assam” and that the findings will now be available in the public domain. He said the Chief Minister has not only misled the people of Assam but has also misled the CAG and misled the country. Bora described it as “a clear case of financial theft”.
Bora also criticised the Chief Minister’s repeated claims that Assam will become the most developed State in India and that he is the most hardworking Chief Minister. He said that the reality is completely different on the ground. According to him, the Chief Minister has no real control over governance and development activities in the State, and his focus is mainly on syndicates and earning money illegally.
Referring to the CAG report of 2022-23, Bora said that fifty departments of Assam have not submitted accounts of around Rs 52 thousand crore. Out of this, about Rs 18 thousand crore account-related information has not been furnished at all. He said that the procedure requires every department to provide financial accounts to the CAG, but in this case, fifty different departments have failed to submit proper accounts. “What does this mean?” Bora asked. He said that either the Chief Minister has no control over these departments or he has deliberately allowed the departments to misuse government funds.
Among the major departments that have not submitted proper expenditure accounts, Bora named the Finance Department with around Rs 2,900 crore, the Education Department with around Rs 1,900 crore, the Social Justice Department with around Rs 1,600 crore, the Secretariat Administration with around Rs 1,300 crore and the Panchayat Department with around Rs 1,100 crore.
Bora said that the Congress would continue raising these matters inside and outside the Assembly because public funds belong to the people and not to any political leader or government.
