Secular forces must work together to defeat communal forces: Gogoi

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Wednesday appealed all secular forces to come on a common platform to defeat communal and divisive forces in the country.

In a statement Gogoi exhorted that the Bihar Assembly elections would be a right platform to demonstrate solidarity of secular forces to win over communal and divisive forces and urged everybody to show their allegiance to secular parties.

Gogoi also urged the voters of Bihar to vote for secular parties to outmanoeuvre the sinister designs of communal forces to drive a rift in society on communal lines.

“Bihar Assembly elections is crucial to choose parties that stand for communal harmony and economic development over other parties that are encouraging anti-poor policies, discord and communal tensions. A retrospective view gives an impression that in the last few days there seems to be a deliberate attempt by certain forces to create communal tension and vitiate the atmosphere. A few incidents that have taken place in the country are clear examples of how a minor tiff snowballed into a situation of communal cauldron,” Gogoi said.

“BJP and its allies on the saddle in Bihar in such a situation would be detrimental to the age-old communal harmony in society,” the Assam CM said.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)