Congress’s Pulak Roy Admits to Collecting Donations from Government Offices, Will Accept Any Party-Prescribed Punishment

After reports of donation collection from government offices emerged in the media, Pulak Roy, the Congress president of the Udharbond block in Cachar, admitted to collecting donations. In a press conference at the Udharbond block Congress office, Roy stated that he did not engage in any coercive donation collection. He mentioned that he had visited a government official, who requested a written letter for the donation, which he provided. Roy clarified that he did not collect donations through coercion.
It is noteworthy that Pulak Roy, the Udharbond block Congress president, had collected illegal donations from government offices in the names of MPs Gaurav Gogoi and Rakibul Hussain. Donations were collected in the names of various programs of these two MPs from several government offices. The Congress president used the party letterhead and receipts to collect thousands of rupees in donations from government offices. Following internal unrest within the Congress party regarding this issue, Roy has admitted to the donation collection.

In a media statement, Pulak Roy accepted that he had asked for donations from a government officer. He said, “I had come in contact with this officer and by the by I had requested him for a donation for the event. He had asked for a receipt with the amount and I had the receipt book with me where I wrote the amount. I requested him to pay the amount before August 13. But he has not given any money yet and even if he did I don’t know”.

Cabinet Minister Pijush Hazarika in this regard said, “We (the current Government) had ended the donation culture. Because of that, the donation culture was stopped in Assam. The Congress has now started it again. I urge the Congress not to create an environment of discontent once more.” The minister also warned that the donation through coercion culture might create discontent and fights between groups and parties. He further said, “Almost all the parties had stopped collecting funds through coercion but if the Congress party starts this again other parties might get influenced and start this again. For this reason, I will request Bhupen Borah dangoriya to take action in this regard”.

So far Congress has not issued any notice of show-cause to this Congress leader. Assam Pradesh Congress Committee’s president Bhupen Kumar Borah and Cachar District Congress President Abhijit Paul. Roy further said, “I will humbly accept any steps the party takes for the mistake”.