GUWAHATI, June 22 (PTI): Hours after a group of Maharashtra MLAs led by dissident Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde reached Assam and were put up in a luxury hotel, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said that he welcomes all to visit Assam as the state needs revenue to deal with the devastating flood.
He also said, without elaborating, that he will be happy if Assam becomes an “international political epicenter”.
Guwahati has many luxury hotels and if the rooms are full, “we should be happy as it will bring in revenue. We will earn through GST and we need it during these difficult times of devastating floods in the state”, Sarma told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.
Altogether 55 lakh people in 32 districts of the North-eastern state are now affected by floods. Eighty-nine citizens have lost their lives due to the calamity.
To a question, he said, “Why should there be a reason for any controversy regarding their visit? We welcome all tourists to visit the state now as we need funds to deal with the floods. Why should we turn away Goddess Lakshmi when most of our hotels are empty or have low occupancy during this period?”
Asked whether he will meet the dissident MLAs from Maharashtra, Sarma said that there is no need for him to do that.
“If I can manage, maybe I will meet them for five minutes. In the meantime, some of my legislator colleagues are in touch with them,” he said.