News Analysis India

Tag: Assam elections

  • Shah slams Congress’ talks of secularism with AIDUF barb in Assam

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Hitting out at the Congress over its poll alliance with the AIUDF in Assam, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said the party is “shamelessly” talking of secularism and culture preservation even as it has Badruddin Ajmal’s outfit “seated on its lap”.

    Shah, who launched the BJP’s social media campaign ‘Selfie with development’ here, said the party will bank on five pillars to fight the state polls — ‘Suraksha aur Samman’ (protection and respect), ‘Samriddhi aur Judao’ (prosperity and connection), ‘Sanskriti aur Sabhyata’ (culture and civilisation), ‘Shanti aur Samvad’ (peace and dialogue) and ‘Swanirbharta aur Atmanirbharta’ (Self-reliance).

    “Assam elections will not just ensure that the BJP stays in power, but will also guarantee preservation of the state’s culture, traditions and civilisation,” he stated.

    Addressing the saffron party’s social media volunteers at the Town Hall conclave in the state capital, he urged them to act as ‘marg-darshaks’ (guide) as it is “your responsibility to generate awareness on our mission to build golden Assam”.

    As part of the new campaign, volunteers will be taking a selfie against the backdrop of a development work undertaken by the BJP government in the state over the last five years and upload it on networking websites.

    The top BJP leader further said that his party will make all efforts to make sure that Assam remains free of militancy, agitation, infiltration, violence, corruption, flood and pollution.

    The Congress cannot save Assam’s glory with Ajmal by its side, and this message should be taken to every household in the state by the cyber warriors, he stated.

    “Former CM Tarun Gogoi had once dismissively enquired ‘Who is Ajmal’ but now his son (Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi) does not mind sharing a platform with the AIUDF chief.”

    “Can the Congress, with the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) as ally, stop infiltration? Can they realise the dreams of Assam icons such as Vaishnav saint Srimanta Sankardeva, Ahom warrior Lachit and multi-faceted personality Dr Bhupen Hazarika?” he contended.

    Shah insisted that Assam must have a “nationalist” government, and all states in the northeast should be linked with the rest of the country as that would facilitate development in the region.

    “After the BJP came to power in Assam five years ago, all states in the region subsequently came under the purview of the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) and are since being guided by the prime minister,” he said.

    Highlighting the various measures taken in the last five years by the Sarbananda Sonowal-led BJP government, he said, “Most of the goals have been achieved; and the little that is left, we promise to take care of those in the next five years.

    “We also want the state’s pre-Independence-era glory of being one of the highest GDP contributors to be restored.”

    The Union minister further pointed out that no major militant attack has been recorded in the state under the BJP rule.

    “In a bid to bring back peace to the Bodoland Territorial Region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured that an agreement was signed by the four factions of the NDFB, militants surrendered with arms, and a development package of Rs 1500 crore is agreed upon (by the stakeholders),” he noted.

    The BJP government must remain in power to check the demographic changes taking place in Assam, as that could destroy the basic social fabric of the state, he added.

    “We have laid the foundation for setting up infrastructure in the state, and now a palace of progress and development will be built here.”

    “This election is not a fight between two parties, it is for Assam’s development. It is to save its pride, glorious heritage, traditions, culture, language and literature,” Shah added.

  • Assam Election: Nomination papers of 28 candidates of second phase rejected during scrutiny

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: The nomination papers of the 28 of the total 408 candidates for the second phase of Assam assembly polls have been rejected during scrutiny, a spokesperson of the office of the Chief Electoral Officer said on Tuesday.

    Altogether 408 candidates had filed their nominations for the 39 constituencies going to polls on April one and 28 of these were rejected during scrutiny on Monday, the spokesperson said.

    The last date of withdrawal for the second phase is March 17.

    Meanwhile, seven candidates have filed their nominations so far for the third and final phase of polls, scheduled on March six and these include Kokrajhar Lok Sabha MP Naba Kumar Sarania from Barama as an Independent and former three-time AGP MLA Bhupen Roy from Abhayapuri North.

    The last date of filing of nominations for the third phase is March 19, scrutiny is on March 20 and the last date for withdrawal on March 22.

    There are 267 contestants in the fray for the first phase of elections to 47 constituencies to be held on March 27.

    The prominent candidates in the fray in the first phase are Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal (Majuli), Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami (Jorhat), ministers Ranjit Dutta (Behali), Naba Kumar Doley (Jonai) and Sanjoy Kishan (Tinsukia), along with AGP ministers Atul Bora (Bokakhat) and Keshab Mahanta (Kaliabor).

    Assam Pradesh Congress Committee President Ripun Bora (Gohpur), Congress Legislature Party leader Debabrata Saikia (Nazira), AICC secretary Bhupen Borah (Bihpuria) and former ministers Bharat Narah (Naoboicha), Pranatee Phukan (Naharkatiya), Rakibul Hussain (Samaguri) and Bismita Gogoi (Khumtai) are contesting in the first phase.

    Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) president Lurinjyoti Gogoi from Duliajan and Naharkatia seats, jailed anti-CAA activist and Raijor Dal chief Akhil Gogoi from Sibsagar and former Congress minister Ajanta Neog as a BJP candidate, from Golaghat are also in the fray in the first phase In the second phase, the prominent contesting candidates are BJP, ministers Parimal Suklabaidya (Dholai), Bhabesh Kalita (Rangia), Pijush Hazarika (Jagiroad) and Deputy Speaker Aminul Haque Laskar (Sonai).

    Former Congress minister Gautam Roy who joined the saffron party is contesting from Katigorah on a BJP ticket while his son Rahul Roy and daughter-in-law Daisy Roy are contesting as independents from Udharbond and Algapur respectively.

    Former Deputy Speaker Dilip Kumar Paul, who resigned from the BJP after he was denied a ticket, is contesting as an independent from Silchar, Rajya Sabha MP Biswajit Daimary (Panery) and former Asam Sahitya Sabha President Paramananda Rajbongshi (Sipajhar) are contesting as BJP candidates and BPF Minister Rihon Daimary (Udalguri) is also in the fray for the second phase polls.

  • Assam polls: Shivraj slams Rahul, says ‘this Gandhi is walking on Jinnah’s path’

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday lashed out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by accusing him of following in the footsteps of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and not Mahatma Gandhi.

    “This Congress is not walking the path of (Mahatma) Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi is not walking the path of Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi is walking the path of Jinnah,” Chouhan said at a rally in Assam’s Naharkatia, which will go to the first of three-phase elections on March 27.

    His diatribe stemmed from the Congress’s poll alignment with minority-based All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) in Assam, Indian Union Muslim League in Kerala, and Indian Secular Front, floated recently by a cleric of Furfura Sharif in West Bengal.

    “The Jinnah path will neither be accepted by the people of Assam nor the countrymen,” Chouhan said.

    ALSO READ | Former Bodo militants return to jungle, urge people to drive BJP out of Assam

    He was livid that the Congress forged an electoral truck with the AIUDF, which is seen by many in Assam as the alleged protector of illegal immigrants. It was floated in 2005 after the Supreme Court, based on a petition, had struck down the Illegal Migrants’ (Determination Tribunal) Act which was allegedly heavily tilted in favour of illegal immigrants. The petition was filed by then Asom Gana Parishad MP and now BJP leader and Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

    “Doesn’t the Congress feel ashamed of joining hands with the AIUDF, which has filled Assam with infiltration? I want to ask if you will honour Ajmal and show disrespect to (former CM) Tarun Gogoi. Rahul Gandhi, give an answer. Why did you forge an alliance with the AIUDF? You tied up with the Indian Union Muslim League in Kerala and the Furfura Sharif in Bengal. What happened to the Congress? The Congress is going to destroy the country,” Chouhan said.

    He scoffed at Rahul over his promise of setting up a fisheries ministry, stating that it is already in place and “his (Rahul’s) tube light lit a little late.”

    Chouhan accused Ajmal, who is a Lok Sabha member and perfume baron, of spreading poison in the society. He said Gogoi had never compromised with Ajmal and his AIUDF.

    “The Congress has ruled Assam for 55 years but what has it given to the state? The Mughals could not defeat Assam due to the heroics of (Ahom general) Lachit Borphukan. Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi gave only infiltration, violence, agitation and unemployment,” Chouhan alleged.

    Also alleging that the Congress has always used the illegal immigrants as its vote bank, the Madhya Pradesh CM predicted that the grand old party would become history under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

  • Assam polls: Congress takes CAA, NRC to people via ‘Bhaona’ narrative

    By Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: The Congress in Assam on Monday released its first “video advertisement” to shed light on the “draconian duo” of Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

    The video advertisement, aired across social media platforms, was trending with more than one million views, the party claimed.

    It is showcased with the music and language of ‘Bhaona’, a Vaishnavite form of spiritual drama popularised by the medieval saint-reformer Srimanta Sankardeva and several of his disciples.

    It affirms with the conviction that the Congress will give courage to the people to raise their voice and provide relief to the grassroots sections by nullifying the “anti-people” CAA. The song visually iterates that the Congress will defeat all evil and communal forces.

    Nullifying CAA is among the Congress’s five guarantees, announced by party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra recently.

    The CAA, which seeks to protect the non-Muslim immigrants who entered India till December 31, 2014, is in conflict with the Assam Accord.

    The Accord, signed in 1985 by the Rajiv Gandhi government at the end of six-year-long bloody Assam Agitation, says the immigrants, irrespective of faith, who entered Assam after March 24 (midnight), 1971 are to be detected and deported. The NRC of 1951 was also updated in the state based on this cut-off date.

    Two political parties – Asom Jatiya Parishad and Raijor Dal – were floated last year by the students and activists against the backdrop of a violent agitation against CAA. Both parties are contesting this election.

  • Assam polls: Yogendra Yadav meets Akhil Gogoi, says goal is to defeat BJP

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Activist Yogendra Yadav met jailed Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi on Sunday and appealed to the people to defeat the ruling BJP in Assam.

    Yadav and Kisan Sangharsh Samiti leader Sunilam met Gogoi at the Gauhati Medical College Hospital.

    “Gogoi has put up 19 candidates in the 86 seats in the first two phases. His goal is to ensure that the BJP is defeated,” Yadav said.

    “We have come with one message that the BJP should be ousted for the way it has treated farmers and taken decisions against their interests and welfare,” the Samyukt Kisan Morcha leader said.

    Yadav said that he had met Gogoi in jail in February last year and his health condition has deteriorated considerably since then.

    “He has been subjected to considerable mental torture and his medical condition has deteriorated but still the ideological clarity, mental resolve and the courage shown by him is a model,” he said.

    Yadav alleged that Gogoi has been put in jail to ensure that he cannot interact with the people during the elections.

    “This is not a criminal trial but a political trial,” he alleged.

    Yadav said that he had not gone to discuss politics but Gogoi was very interested to know how the farmers’ agitation was progressing and was very clear about the urgent need to defeat the BJP.

    Sunilam alleged that the way NIA is investigating the cases against Gogoi it appears that they are acting at the behest of the government.

    “It is obvious that false cases have been slapped against him to silence peoples’ voice, which he represents, but now that the elections are here, the people of the state must make a decision,” he said.

    He appealed to the Congress to reconsider their decision of fielding a candidate against Gogoi.

    Sunilam said that he would go to Sibsagar to campaign for Gogoi.

    Gogoi was arrested in December 2019 during the protests against CAA in the state and was booked under the stringent UAPA.

    He had tested positive for COVID-19 some months back and shifted to the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital where he is still lodged with a board of doctors monitoring his condition.

    Sibsagar goes to the polls in the first phase on March 27 along with 46 other constituencies.

    Elections to the 126-member Assam legislative assembly will be held in three phases with 39 constituencies in the second phase on April 1, and 40 in the last phase on April 6.

  • CAA not election issue in Assam; people will vote logically, not emotionally: BJP

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Assam BJP chief Ranjeet Kumar Dass on Sunday claimed that the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act is not an issue in the upcoming assembly elections in the state as people will vote logically, not emotionally.

    In an interview with PTI, the senior ruling party leader said that people are convinced that not a single foreigner can illegally settle in Assam as long as the BJP is in power in the state.

    “There will be no impact (of CAA) on elections and the people of Assam have earlier shown that. When the citizenship issue was at its peak, we had participated in the panchayat polls, asking people to question us if any foreigner enters Assam. We bagged the highest number of seats in that election,” he said.

    The former Assembly speaker said that the CAA issue had cropped up even during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections but the BJP succeeded in increasing its tally from seven to nine seats.

    “We swept the Tiwa autonomous council polls, while the Congress scored a duck. The Congress also did not win any seat in the Bodoland Territorial Region elections. The CAA will not be an issue in the assembly elections also as people will vote logically, not emotionally,” Dass said.

    The two-time sitting MLA from Sarbhog constituency said that the party workers have gone to every booth and asked people whether any foreigner has come to their area after the enactment of the CAA.

    “It was claimed that 1.5 crore immigrants will come to the state but not a single person has arrived yet. We had asserted that no foreigner can enter Assam as long as the BJP is in power in the state. People are convinced by our promise.”

    “How can foreigners come and settle in Assam when we have such tight security arrangements?” Dass said.

    The opposition Congress, however, is aggressively raising the CAA issue in its poll campaign, promising to nullify the law if the Grand Alliance led by it comes to power in the state.

    The grand old party has announced that it will build a martyrs’ memorial in Guwahati for the five anti-CAA protesters who were killed in police firing in 2019.

    It also launched a door-to-door campaign to collect 1 lakh ‘gamocha’ (Assamese scarf) with anti-CAA messages written on them to adorn the memorial.

    Two newly floated parties Raijor Dal and Assam Jatiya Parishad, in their election campaign, are also raking up the issue of CAA, which seeks to grant citizenship to Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Jain and Parsi immigrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who have entered India on or before December 31, 2014.

    Despite the opposition’s concerted effort to build a public opinion based on CAA, Dass exuded confidence that the BJP-led NDA will win over 100 seats in the 126-member assembly.

    “We are working with a 100-plus target,” he said.

    The BJP is contesting the assembly elections in an alliance with Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL), who are part of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), the regional arm of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

    The Congress, which was in power in Assam for 15 years since 2001, has formed a ‘Grand Alliance’ with AIUDF, BPF, CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML), Anchalik Gana Morcha (AGM), RJD and Jimochayan (Deori) Peoples’ Party (JPP) to fight the elections against the BJP-led NDA.

    Elections will be held in three phases on March 27, April 1 and April 6.

    Results will be declared on May 2.

    The 2016 elections in Assam gave a fractured mandate as no party got an absolute majority.

    The BJP had emerged as the single-largest party with 60 MLAs, while its allies Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) had won 14 and 12 seats respectively.

    The ruling coalition also had the support of an Independent MLA.

    The Congress had won 26 seats, while the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) bagged 13 constituencies.

  • BJP goes for continuity in poll-bound Assam, renominates seven MLAs

    By Express News Service
    GUWAHATI:  Favouring continuity, the BJP on Sunday announced the final list of 17 candidates for the upcoming Assembly elections. Eight of the 17 seats in Guwahati and Lower Assam are currently held by the party and it fielded seven sitting MLAs.

    The only MLA to have missed the poll bus is Dipak Kumar Rabha (Dudhnai seat). Shyamjit Rabha of the Rabha Joutha Mancha, a tribe-based organisation and an ally of the BJP, will contest from the seat but under the BJP’s symbol.

    Industries and Commerce Minister Chandramohan Patowary (Dharmapur), Law and Justice Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharjee (Gauhati East), MLAs Ashok Singhi (Bilasipara East), Ashwini Rai Sarkar (Golakganj), Atul Bora (Dispur), Suman Haripriya (Hajo) and Narayan Deka (Barkhetry) are contesting from their respective constituencies.  

    The AGP, an ally of the ruling BJP-led combine, also released its third list of candidates containing 13 names, including minister Phani Bhushan Choudhury and Bhojpuri singer Kalpana Patowary, for the assembly polls in the state.

    ALSO READ | Assam polls: Congress unleashes 12-point attack on ruling BJP

    Names of three sitting MLAs also feature in the list declared by the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) general secretary Ramendra Narayan Kalita for the third and last phase of polling on April 6.

    Apart from Phani Bhushan Choudhury who will contest from Bongaigaon, the other sitting MLAs are Kalita himself who will be in the fray from Guwahati West and Gunindra Nath Das from Barpeta constituency.

    Patowary has been fielded from Sarukhetri seat, the AGP general secretary said.

    The party has selected former minister Kamalakanta Kalita (Chaygaon), Bhupen Rai (Abhayapuri North), Javed Islam (Mankachar), Purnendu Banikya (Abhayapuri South), Jyotish Das (Goalpara East), Shaikh Shah Alam (Goalpara West), Ranjit Deka (BHabanipur), Rabiul Hussain (Chenga) and Jyoti Prasad Das (Boko).

    Earlier, the AGP had released two lists containing a total of 14 names for the first and second phase of polling on March 27 and April 1 respectively.

    The BJP has formed an alliance with the AGP and United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) for the upcoming polls.

    The party currently has 13 MLAs in the 126-member assembly.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Assam polls: Congress unleashes 12-point attack on ruling BJP

    By Express News Service
    GUWAHTI: The Congress on Sunday came out with a 12-point ‘charge sheet’ against Assam’s BJP-led government. The party said that before coming to power, BJP had promised to protect ‘jati’ (community), ‘mati’ (land) ‘bheti’ (foundation), but instead imposed the CAA on people.

    According to the Congress, the CAA is a threat to the language, culture and identity of the people of Assam.

    The party slammed BJP also for leaving genuine citizens out of the National Register of Citizens.

    “Before 2016 Assembly elections, the BJP promised five lakh employments every year. Like other promises, they failed to deliver this. There are around three lakh posts lying vacant in different departments and the number of unemployed in the state has reached 40 lakh,” the Congress said.  

    “The BJP has been selling our prized resources, from oil fields to the Lokopriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport to corporate houses close to the Modi regime,” the party said.

    The Congress also claimed there has been a mushrooming of syndicates and criticised the BJP for price rises and plight of tea workers.

    “The BJP government has failed to increase the daily wage of tea workers. The promise to provide ST status to over 100 sub-tribes of the Adivasi tea community was also not kept,” the Congress said.

    “Modi said in 2014 that after May 16, all Bangladeshis will have to leave. The BJP had also stated there were 50 lakh Bangladeshis in Assam. That this was a false statement is made apparent by figures from the home ministry,” it said.

    ‘Charge sheet’ a joke, retorts saffron party

    The BJP called the Congress’s ‘charge sheet’ is a “joke”.

    “First, their stand is not clear on the CAA. In some pockets like Barak Valley, even they support the CAA. In tea garden areas, they should not question us,” Assam BJP spokesperson Pabitra Margherita said.

  • Congress to bag over 100 seats in Assam, says Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel

    By PTI
    DIBRUGARH: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, who is in Assam on a three-day visit to canvas for Congress candidates, criticised the ruling BJP on Sunday for its alleged failure to fulfil promises, and asserted that his party will bag more than 100 seats in the 126-member Assembly.

    Baghel, who is also the senior observer of the Congress for Assam polls, said the saffron camp had vowed to take steps to seal the state’s border with Bangladesh, and construct expressways on the two sides of the Brahmaputra river, but none of that happened in the last five years.

    Hitting out at the ruling party for “not having a development agenda”, Baghel further claimed that members of the BJP are still confused if Sarabananda Sonowal is the state’s chief minister or Himanta Biswa Sarma.

    Baghel also accused the BJP government of running a ‘syndicate raj’ and institutionalising corruption in various sectors such as coal supply and betel leaf trade.

    “The BJP had promised to seal the Bangladesh border, construct Expressways on both sides of Brahmaputra river and raise daily wages of tea garden workers but they failed to deliver.

    The way things are going, we are confident that our party get hundred plus seats in Assam,” the Chhattisgarh CM, who is campaigning for the Congress in Upper Assam, said during a press conference here.

    Elections to the 126-member Assam House will be held in three phases between March 27 and April 6.

    Assembly seats in Upper Assam are scheduled to go to polls during the first phase.

    The Congress, which has formed a Grand Alliance with the AIUDF, BPF, CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML), the Anchalik Gana Morcha (AGM) and the RJD, is set to contest 43 of the 47 seats, which are up for polls in the first phase.

  • Amit Shah on two-day campaign in poll-bound Assam, Bengal; may meet kin of deceased BJP workers

    By Express News Service
    KOLKATA:  Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be on a two-day poll campaign in West Bengal starting from Sunday. He will address two rallies in Junglemahal, where the BJP made deep inroads in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by bagging all five seats, and the other in West Midnapore’s Kharagpur.

    Shah is also likely to hold a roadshow in Kharagpur town. Sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party said Shah and BJP’s national president JP Nadda is likely to meet the family members of 129 BJP workers who were killed in police violence in past few years.

    The BJP has blamed the ruling Trinamool Congress for the violence. Both leaders will be meeting the family members in small groups in the coming days and weeks in the state where the BJP has been running an intense campaign to end the TMC’s 10-year long reign.

    Shah will meet the family members of around 86 of the deceased party workers, and Nadda the rest, sources said. “We are determined to retain our strength that we achieved in the 2019 general elections.

    So, Shah will address a rally at Khatra in Bankura and another in Jhargram,” said a BJP leader. The saf fron camp had snatched the Jhargram Lok Sabha constituency in 2019 which the TMC had won with record margin of more than 3.5 lakh votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The BJP said Shah will also address two public meetings at Margarita and Nazira in Assam on Sunday.

    (With agency inputs)