By Bhupen Goswami

Guwahati: Assam Congress MPs Gaurav Gogoi (Kaliabor), Pradyut Bordoloi (Nagaon), Abdul Khaleque (Barpeta), and Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora staged a demonstration in New Delhi against the privatization of the Numaligarh Refinery. The Congress MPs, during the demonstration, demonstrated that the privatization would also be a direct violation of the Assam Accord.Congress lawmakers from Assam, including Ripun Bora and Gaurav Gogoi, on Tuesday staged a protest in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s bust in Parliament premises against the proposed privatisation of Numaligarh Refinery in the state. The members raised slogans against the refinery’s privatisation and held placards such as — ‘Numaligarh Refinery – heartbeat of Assam, stop privatisation’ and ‘Save Assam, Save India’.”We are staging a protest to bring to the BJP government’s notice the reported move to privatise the Numaligarh Refinery, which is a product of the historic Assam Accord.

This is a profit-earning refinery and it is emotionally attached to the people of Assam. This (privatisation of refinery) is a great injustice to the people of the state,” Bora, who is Assam Congress unit chief, told .Located in Morangi in Assam’s Golaghat district, the Numaligarh Refinery is owned by the Numaligarh Refinery Limited. Bharat Petroleum, Oil India and the Assam government have their shares in the refinery. In January this year, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) sanctioned Rs 22,594 crore to increase the capacity of Numaligarh Refinery by three times to fulfill the petroleum needs in the entire North-East region.peaking to mediapersons, Ripun Bora said that the “The stepmotherly attitude of the Centre towards Assam, and the privatization of the refinery, an outcome of the historic Assam Accord, will not be accepted.” Pradyut Bordoloi, meanwhile, urged the Government not to sell the BPCL, which owns 60% stake of the Refinery, and stated that the identity of the Refinery, as a public sector entity, should be retained. It may be mentioned here that the Numaligarh Refinery is located at Morangi, Golaghat district, Assam in India is a refinery owned by Numaligarh Refinery Limited, a joint venture between Bharat Petroleum, Oil India and Govt of Assam. After the Government’s decision to privatize the NRL, many indigenous organizations and politics bodies took to the streets in protest.