PM has asked me not to compromise on corruption : Sonowal

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked him not to compromise while acting against corruption.

Nobody will be spared if there is enough evidence, he said at the India Today Conclave East 2017.

"There will be no discrimination ... Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked me not to compromise while acting against corruption," he said.

"We (BJP government in Assam) had started acting against corruption from the first day ... No one will be spared if there is evidence. Even the CM will have to go behind bars if there is enough evidence," Sonowal said.

His government has recognised the loopholes and weaknesses in the system and has tried to fix it, he said.

Asked whether he is comfortable in working with Himanta Biswa Sarma, who joined the BJP in 2015 and is a minister in the state cabinet and is allegedly involved in the Louis Berger bribery scam, he said "We don't take action out of prejudice. It's impartial. If there is proof against someone, that person will be brought to book."

The CBI has taken over the probe into the Louis Berger bribery scam in Assam on the orders of the Gauhati High Court, and registered an FIR.

The US company had allegdly adopted illegal means for obtaining three water supply projects in Goa and Guwahati.

Sonowal lauded the prime minister for focusing on the north east and said Modi is the first prime minister to consider all available resources in the region.

Asked, the chief minister said there was no divide among communities in Assam. "We believe in Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas. We have four districts which share borders with Bangladesh and we are prioritizing growth in them. These are all Muslim majority areas. It is not about Hindu or Muslim, it is not about Assamese or Bengali. It is about everyone's growth and development."