News Analysis India

Tag: Assam elections

  • PM Modi asks people to vote in record numbers in Assam, West Bengal 

    By PTI
    NEW DELI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday urged people to cast votes in record numbers as polling began in the morning for the first phase of assembly elections in West Bengal and Assam.

    “The first phase of elections begin in Assam. Urging those eligible to vote in record numbers. I particularly call upon my young friends to vote.

    “Today, Phase 1 of the West Bengal Assembly elections begin. I would request all those who are voters in the seats polling today to exercise their franchise in record numbers,” he tweeted.

    Today, Phase 1 of the West Bengal Assembly elections begin. I would request all those who are voters in the seats polling today to exercise their franchise in record numbers.
    — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 27, 2021

    The BJP hopes to retain power in Assam and defeat the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal.

    Assam and Bengal will have three-phase and eight-phase elections, respectively.

    The counting of votes will be on May 2.

  • Congress-AIUDF combo will win some and lose some

    Express News Service
    DIBRUGARH/NAGAON(ASSAM): At an All-India United Democratic Front camp office next to a verdant, sun-drenched paddy field in Dhubri district, the party’s flag bearing the election symbol of taala-chaabi (lock and key) flutters in the modestly hot spring breeze. Cut-outs of Hafiz Bashir Ahmed, the party’s Bilasipara West candidate, also adorns the office. But there is neither a flag of the Congress, its alliance partner, nor a poster with a photo of Rahul Gandhi or any other senior Congress leader. Contrast this with the Asom Gana Parishad’s roadside office in Kaliabor constituency, Nagaon district. Flags of AGP and BJP, its ally, can be seen and the hoarding even has a photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

    This united face is also visible in Simla Bazar village, Baksa district, just eight kilometres away from the Indo-Bhutan border. At a public meeting of the United People’s Party Liberal, BJP’s new Bodo ally, close to rolling tea gardens, flags of both the parties get equal prominence. But despite the Congress-AIUDF’s somewhat disunited campaign, it is widely believed that the new alliance will give the BJP-led combine a run for its money. This is because of the expected consolidation of minority votes. “There is a positive sentiment for the development work by the BJP government but their number will come down because of the Congress-AIUDF alliance,” said Chandan Sarma of Dibrugarh University. 

    The arithmetic of the 2016 assembly elections also suggests this, when the Congress had contested 122 seats and the AIUDF 74. The vote share shows that if the two parties had contested together, they would have defeated the BJP or AGP candidate in at least 14 seats. In six of them they would have won by a yard, getting 55% or more vote share.Take for instance the Batadroba constituency in minority-dominated Nagaon district. Had the Congress and the AIUDF contested together, they would have got 59.64% votes, much higher than the winning BJP candidate’s 37.61%. In Barpeta, the Congress-AIUDF would have got 58.51% as against the AGP’s 38.96%. 

    Besides the 14 seats where the Congress-AIUDF would have upstaged the BJP-AGP, in three seats the contest in 2016 was extremely close as the difference in vote share was razor thin. In Tezpur, the Congress-AIUDF combine got 52.54% votes while the winning AGP candidate got 52.56%, a difference of only 0.02%.In Ratabari, it was 47.94% for the BJP and 47.41% for the Congress-AIUDF while in Hojai, the BJP got 54.4% while the Congress-AIUDF 53.77%. But the consolidation of minority votes is likely to negatively impact the Congress when it comes to Assamese Hindu votes. This community has been strongly opposed to the AIUDF and its brand of politics that is largely centred round Bengali Muslims and illegal immigrants. “In upper Assam, the local Assamese are likely to reject the Congress because of the alliance with the AIUDF,” said Arindam Borkataky, a political analyst and lecturer at ADP College, Nagaon. 

    His sentiment was perhaps captured by a dhaba owner in Kukurmara, Kamrup district. Identifying himself as only Rituparna, he called the Congress-AIUDF alliance unholy and communal. “As far as this area is concerned, the majority of the people here are Hindus so they will all vote for the BJP. Why should they vote for any other party?” he asked. An interesting subtext of the alliance is that the Congress could have been more desperate for the tie-up than the AIUDF. This is clear from the seat distribution. 

    While the AIUDF is contesting 20 seats only, down from 74 the last time, it has not only got the safer constituencies but managed to get seven seats where the Congress had won handsomely in 2016. In two of them, Baghbar and Jania, the Congress had even got a whopping 57.58% and 56.41% vote share, respectively. “The AIUDF has got the better seats,” said Jay Panda, the BJP’s election in-charge for Assam. The Congress and the AIUDF did not comment. 

  • CM Sarbananda Sonowal, top opposition leaders in fray as first phase of Assam assembly polls begins

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Voting began at 7 am on Saturday for 47 seats in the first phase of the assembly elections in Assam to decide the fate of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, and a host of ministers and opposition leaders, officials said.

    Altogether 264 candidates, including 23 women, are in the fray in the first phase, they said.

    A total of 300 companies of security forces have been deployed in the first phase, in which people are voting at 11,537 polling stations across 12 districts of Upper Assam and the Northern Bank of Brahmaputra.

    Patrolling has been intensified and strict vigil is being kept in all the vulnerable areas, officials said.

    Most of these 47 seats are witnessing a triangular contest between the ruling BJP-AGP alliance, the Congress-led opposition grand alliance and the newly-formed Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP).

    Altogether, 81,09,815 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the first phase.

    Of them, 40,77,210 are male and 40,32,481 female, while 124 are third gender voters, besides nine overseas voters.

    Women polling officials are exclusively conducting the exercise in 479 polling stations.

    The polling would continue till 6 pm.

    A significant turnout was seen at several booths as the poll began with many choosing to vote early.

    Special measures were taken for People with Disabilities (PwD), including the provision of wheelchairs at every polling station and e-rickshaws for their commute.

    The ruling BJP is contesting 39 seats and its partner AGP 10.

    The two allies are engaged in “friendly contests” in Lakhimpur and Naharkatiya constituencies.

    The opposition grand alliance is contesting all the seats, with the Congress putting up candidates in 43, and the AIUDF, CPI(ML-L), RJD and Anchalik Gana Morcha (contesting as Independent) in one each.

    The newly-formed AJP is in the fray in 41 seats, while there are 78 Independents, including 19 candidates of the newly-formed Raijor Dal.

    Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal is trying his luck from Majuli (ST), Speaker of the outgoing assembly Hitendranath Goswami is fighting the elections from Jorhat.

    Ministers Ranjit Dutta (Behali), Naba Kumar Doley (Dhakuakha), Jogen Mohan (Mahmora), Terash Gowala (Duliajan) and Sanjoy Kishan (Tinsukia) are all locked in triangular contests with Congress or its alliance partners, and the AJP.

    Titabor, another high-profile seat that was held by former chief minister Tarun Gogoi of the Congress for four successive terms, is witnessing a direct contest between Bhaskar Jyoti Barua of the Congress and former MLA Hemanta Kalita.

    Congress Legislature Party leader Debabrata Saikia and state Congress president Ripun Borah are in the fray from Nazira and Gohpur, respectively.

    Activist and Raijor Dal leader Akhil Gogoi, in jail for his alleged role in the violent anti-CAA protests, is contesting as an Independent from Sivasagar.

    AJP president Lurinjyoti Gogoi is contesting from Duliajan and Naharkatiya.

    Most voters were seen wearing masks amid a resurgent coronavirus, while those arriving without one are being provided at the booths. Assam is voting in three phases for the 126-member assembly. The votes will be counted on May 2.

  • Gadkari takes on Congress for its guarantee to nullify CAA in Assam if voted to power

    By PTI
    DHARAMPUR/GOLAKGANJ/GUWAHATI: Senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari Friday lashed out at the Congress for its “guarantee” to the people of Assam of bringing in a legislation in the state assembly to nullify the Citizenship (Amendment) Act if voted to power in the state.

    The union road transport minister said Congress is engaged in opportunistic vote bank politics and has compromised the country’s security by its minority appeasement.

    Without taking any name, he said some people and some party have supported infiltration in Assam and tried to give the infiltrators voting rights, which is not beneficial for the country.

    BJP’s political agenda on the other hand is development, unity and security of the country and the party is fully committed to it, he said addressing poll rallies at Dharmapur and Golakganj and at a press conference here.

    “The CAA is a central law. No one can change it in an Assembly. Rahul Gandhi does not know that or what?” he said.

    Gadkari’s comment follows the one by BJP national president J P Nadda, who while releasing the party’s Assam poll manifesto earlier this week had said CAA had been passed by Parliament and would be implemented in the country.

    It had trigerred state-wide protests by political parties and the All Assam Students Union, which had been in the forefront of the 2019 agitation against CAA.

    Congress in its “Five guarantees” to Assam promised that would nullify CAA in Assam by bringing in a legislation in the state assembly, besides providing five lakh government jobs to youths in five years, 200 units of free electricity for every household, increasing the daily wages of the tea garden workers to Rs 365 and Rs 2000 per month to homemakers if voted to power.

    Gadkari said, “This is a very important election. It is not to decide the future of Congress, but to decide the future of Assam. The BJP government did more work in the state in five years than what Congress did in 50 years.”

    “The difference between BJP and Congress is that the opposition party does opportunistic vote bank politics and has surrendered the country’s security for the sake of its appeasement politics. To appease the minorities, Congress is playing with the nation’s security,” Gadkari said.

    The union minister listed a host of projects that his ministry has implemented in the state and the north east.

    He said Assam will be one of the top states in India if BJP returns to power in the state.

    “During our tenure, road work of 30,000 crore have been completed in Assam. Sanctions for another Rs 50,000 crore for roads have been given. At present, work for Rs 35,000 crore is on. Assam will have completed roads of Rs two lakh crore in the next five years,” he added.

    Besides, the Centre has approved Rs 1,300 crore bamboo mission and other industries like an ethanol plant for the state.

    He said the northeast region will be developed as a manufacturing hub for incense sticks made of bamboo, besides creating waterways to connect the region with South East Asia.

    The government is at present developing a Rs 1,200 crore multi-modal logistic park spread across 317 acres at Jogighopa, which will create huge job opportunities.

    “What chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and (Assam minister Chandra Mohan) Patowary did for Assam in the last five years it was just a trailer. The actual film is yet to start,” he added.

  • 18 per cent candidates contesting in phase-3 Assam polls declared criminal cases: ADR

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Out of the 337 candidates contesting in the third phase of the Assam Assembly polls this year, 18 per cent have declared criminal cases against themselves, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

    The Assam Election Watch and the ADR have analysed the self-sworn affidavits of all the 337 candidates who are contesting in polls.

    “Out of the 337 candidates analysed, 60 (18 per cent) candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves and 45 (13 per cent) have declared serious criminal cases against themselves,” the ADR said.

    Among the major parties, 14 (58 per cent) out of 24 candidates analysed from the Congress, five (42 per cent) out of 12 candidates analysed from the AIUDF, five (25 per cent) out of 20 candidates analysed from the BJP, two (25 per cent) out of eight candidates analysed from the Bodoland Peoples Front have declared criminal cases against themselves.

    It said two (11 per cent) out of 19 candidates analysed from the JD(U) and one candidate each from the AGP and the Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

    Among the major parties, 13 (54 per cent) out of 24 candidates analysed from the Congress, five (42 per cent) out of 12 candidates analysed from the AIUDF, four (20 per cent) out of 20 candidates analysed from the BJP and one candidate each from the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the AJP have declared serious criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits.

    Six candidates have declared cases related to crime against women and three candidates have declared cases related to murder (Indian Penal Code Section-302) against themselves, the ADR said.

    The report further said five candidates have declared cases related to attempt to murder (IPC Section-307) against themselves.

    Eight (20 per cent) out of 40 constituencies are red alert constituencies, it said.

    Red alert constituencies are those where three or more contesting candidates have declared criminal cases against themselves.

    Out of the 337 candidates, 90 (27 per cent) are crorepatis.

    The report further said that 25 (7 per cent) female candidates are contesting in the third phase of the Assam Assembly polls and 104 (31 per cent) candidates have declared their age to be between 25 to 40 years, while 191 (57 per cent) have declared their age to be between 41 to 60 years.

    There are 42 (12 per cent) candidates who have declared their age to be between 61 to 80 years, according to the report.

    Elections to the 126-member Assam Assembly will be held in three phases on March 27, April 1 and April 6.

  • ‘BJP will leave no stone unturned to thwart Congress’ design to play with Assam’s identity’: Jitendra Singh

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Union minister Jitendra Singh on Friday said the BJP will leave no stone unturned to thwart the Congress party’s design to play with the identity of Assam for the sake of vote-bank politics.

    He said the protection of Assam’s civilisation is the first and most prominent highlight of the saffron party’s manifesto for the upcoming Assembly polls in the state.

    “It is a fight to protect civilisation from the Congress’s assault and the BJP will leave no stone unturned to thwart the Congress party’s design to play with the identity of Assam simply for vote-bank politics,” Singh told PTI.

    Polling will be held in 47 Assembly seats of Assam in the first phase on Saturday, while 39 and 40 constituencies in the northeastern state will go to polls on April 1 and April 6 respectively.

    Singh, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), said the Congress, in its desperation, has gone to the extent of aligning with the “communal” outfit of Badruddin Ajmal, which is not only an affront to the people of Assam, but also to the legacy of the Congress leadership, represented by one of its tallest leaders, late Tarun Gogoi, who was always acutely sensitive about the civilisation and entity of the people of the state.

    The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), headed by Ajmal, is considered to have a large base among Assam’s about 35 per cent Muslim population.

    Singh, who is also the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) co-incharge for Assam, said the political interest of the people of the state will be sought to be guarded while protecting its civilisation.

    “For this, the BJP will favour a delimitation exercise to be undertaken in the state,” he said.

    The entire region was at the receiving end of the annual floods happening year after year, but unfortunately, the Congress governments both at the Centre and in the state did not address the issue for decades, Singh alleged.

    The BJP government has decided to launch the “Mission Brahmaputra” with the intent of limiting the losses to lives, livelihood and property due to the floods, he said.

  • Fear, loathing and emergence of new minority politics in poll-bound Assam

    Express News Service
    KOKRAJHAR/DHUBRI: Sitting inside his dirtcoated, poorly-stocked provision store next to a rural road at Joypur village in Assam’s Kokrajhar district, Akbar Ahmed is reticent about the ongoing state elections. “I am so busy in my shop that I have had no time to think of it. Let voting day come then I will apply my mind,” he said as cacophonic traffic-blowing gas horns raced past, kicking up plumes of cough-inducing dust. A little later he dropped guard a tad, saying in the 2016 Assembly elections he had voted for the Bodoland People’s Front, then an alliance partner of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Ali-ur-Zaman in Kaziranga is similarly circumspect.

    Originally from Bongaigaon district in eastern Assam, he and his wife have been running a dhaba for the past four years on the national highway that cuts through the rhino sanctuary. “I will see, I can’t say anything about voting right now,” he answered in one-liners, suspicious of every question and refusing to even make eye contact. His wife hemmed and hawed in greater measure: “We are confused.” About 350 kms away inside a weather-beaten, tin-roofed tea stall in Bagbari village, Dhubri district, Noor Islam is watching a video on his mobile of the arrest of civil rights activist turned- candidate Akhil Gogoi.

    ALSO READ: Thumbs up for delivering development in Assam, but a big no for price rise

    Unlike Akbar and Zaman, Islam is not fearful of discussing the elections with a stranger. He declares his support for the Raijor Dal, Gogoi’s new political party, and spews venom on the BJP and its local candidate, Ashok Kumar Singhi. The tea shop owner, Usman Moni, in between blowing out betel nut from his paan-stained mouth and teeth every 15 minutes, is also vocal about the polls, the BJP and Singhi, describing the saffron party’s nominee as “Hitlerian”. It’s not difficult to understand why the Muslims of Kokrajhar and Kaziranga were suspicious while those in Dhubri were open, expansive and even polemical.

    ‘Assamese Muslims always identify themselves as Assamese, not by religion’

    Demography explains the contrasting mood. According to the 2011 Census, the Bodo-dominated Kokrajhar district has 59.64% Hindus while only 28.44% are Muslims. But in neighbouring Dhubri, Hindus are 19.92% and Muslims 79.67%. Their higher numbers in Dhubri perhaps provided them a sense of security, prompting confidence in engaging in a political discussion. Interestingly, the Muslims of Bagbari and neighbouring Lakhiganj village said they had voted for the BJP in 2016.

    Asked why, pat came Usman’s reply: “Because they promised parivartan (change).” Two things are clear from this: firstly, the characterisation of the Muslims being anti- BJP may be misplaced as many had voted for it the last time. Secondly, the narrative of Muslims being a captive voting bloc of either the Congress or the AIUDF could be erroneous. Despite the AIUDF’s strong presence in Dhubri, widely considered the gateway of illegal immigration from Bangladesh, some Bagbari villagers were willing to vote for the Raijor Dal, a political newbie.

    The fear and loathing of the BJP is not surprising. The party, particularly state finance minster and Assam BJP’s strongman, Himanta Biswa Sarma, has run a campaign against the Miyas, or Bengali-speaking Muslims who came to Assam from Bangladesh. Sarma has often said the party does not need the votes of Miyas. This seems to have antagonised not only the Bengali Muslims but even the Assamese Muslims, creating a new dynamic in minority politics. Assamese Muslims are counted among the indigenous people of the state, unlike the Bengali-speaking Muslims, who are considered as outsiders. As a result, the Assamese Muslims have been strongly opposed to illegal immigration by Bengali Muslims and have supported any political party that has fought against this.

    But the campaign against the Miyas seems to have driven the Assamese Muslims to close ranks with the Bengali Muslims against the BJP, purely because they have a common religious denomination. Sipping fruit juice from a tetra pack and cooled by a pedestal fan inside his office in Goalpara, Mofiyal Rahman, an Assamese Muslim and owner of a nursing home-cum-pharmaceutical shop, said Sarma had asked people to not eat food served by Miyas. “The comment was directed at the Bengali Muslims but this is not correct and we are upset. After all, we share the same religion,” said Rahman. Rahman’s assertion of his religion has lent a new turn to Assam’s complex identity politics.

    The Assamese Muslims like Rahman have never identified themselves by their religion, always calling themselves simply as Assamese. In fact, there is little to differentiate between an Assamese Hindu and a Muslim. They speak the same language, share the same food habits, celebrate the same festivals and are culturally united. Barring the religion, the two communities are indistinguishable. “Assamese Muslims are more Assamese than the Hindus.

    They have always identified themselves only as Assamese, not by their religion. Bengalis are culturally different,” said Arindam Borkotaky, a political analyst and lecturer at ADP College, Nagaon. Many Assamese Muslims, estimated to be 20 lakh out of the total Muslim population of 1.03 crore, are said to have supported the BJP in 2016. “But this time the Muslims and Christians will not vote for the BJP. All minorities feel threatened by it,” said Satyakam Borthakur, a teacher at Dibrugarh University.

  • High-pitched campign for first phase poll in Assam ends

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: The high-pitched campaign for the first phase of poll in Assam in 47 assembly constituencies slated for March 27 came to an end on Thursday evening.

    The poll on Saturday will decide the fate of 264 candidates.

    Implementation of the Citizenship Amednment Act, 2019 was the central issue in the state, which was rocked by violence and protests against it, but BJP, which had steered the central legislation in Parliament maintained a studied silence on it.

    The issue did not find place in the campaigning by the party nor in its manifesto.

    However, party president J P Nadda’s comment that it is an act of Parliament and will be implemented saw protests across the state by political parties students union AASU.

    The Congress on the other hand assured that if voted to power, it will bring a legislation in the assembly so that the act is not implemented in Assam.

    The hectic campaigning for the first phase was marked by poll meetings by several national leaders of the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress, who criss crossed the state to garner support for their respective parties.

    Prime Minister Narendra Modi had led the campaign brigade for BJP and its alliance partner, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP).

    The other BJP leaders who wooed the voters in Assam were BJP President J P Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar, who is also partys state in-charge.

    The others leaders from outside to hold campaign rallies were Textile and Handloom Minister Smriti Iraniand chief ministers Yogi Adityanath and Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

    Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and BJP state unit President Ranjeet Kumar Dass and North East Democratic Alliance convenor and state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma campaigned in the constituencies which are spread across upper and central Assam.

    The highlight of the opposition Congress campaign was the visit of its top leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the tea belt, besides Chhatisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, who is in charge of the partys campaign in Assam.

    Other leaders who campaigned for Congress included former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala and Gaurav Gogoi, the chairman of the mannifesto committee.

    The BJP in its vampign spoke against the alliance between Congress and ther saying it would lead to increase in infiltration, a critical issu in the state.

    The increased infiltration will lead to threats to the land, language, identity and culture of the state’s indigenous population, it insisted.

    The Congress in its campaign presented its Five guarantees’.

    These are five lakh government jobs to youths in five years, 200 units of free electricity for every household, increasing the daily wages of the tea garden workers to Rs 365 and Rs 2000 per month to homemakers, besides the legislation against the implementation of the CAA.

    The newly floated political parties Assam Jatiya Parishad and Raijor Dal relied mostly on door-to-door campaigns and street corner meetings.

    With ‘Rongali Bihu’, the popular spring festival of the Assamese about a fortnight away, supporters of the political parties were seen dancing the ‘jhumur’, the folk dance of the tea tribes or swaying to their election songs which have become particularly popular among the voters.

    Prominent among those whose fates will be decided in the first phase are Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami, ministers Atul Bora, Keshab Mahanta, Ranjit Dutta, Naba Kumar Doley, Sanjoy Kishan and Nazir Hussain.

    The others are Assam Pradesh Congress Committee President Ripun Bora, Congress Legislature Party leader Debabrata Saikia, AICC secretary Bhupen Borah and former ministers of the party Bharat Narah, Pranatee Phukan and Rakibul Hussain.

    The fates of jailed Raijor Dal president Akhil Gogoi and Assam Jatiya Parishad president Lurinjyoti Gogoi along with his party general secretary Jagadish Bhuyan will also be decided in the first phase.

    BJP is contesting in 39 of the 47 seats while its alliance partner the AGP in 10, including two where it is in friendly contest against the saffron party.

    The Congress is contesting in 43 seats and its allies AIUDF, RJD, Anchalik Gana Morcha (as independent) and CPI-ML in one seat each.

    Assam Jatiya Parishad is contesting in 41 seats while the Raijor Dal is contesting in 19 seats as independents.

    A total of 78 independents are in the fray in the first phase.

    There are 23 women candidates in the fray in the first phase, Election Commission sources said.

  • BJP’s double standard on CAA exposed, party scared to raise issue in Assam: Baghel

    He said the BJP had been avoiding answers on unemployment, inflation, devastating floods, the plight of tea plantation workers and the thriving syndicate of smugglers.

  • Successive Congress govts gave unemployment, insurgency, infiltration to Assam: Shivraj Singh Chouhan

    By PTI
    PALASBARI: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday alleged that the successive Congress governments in Assam had given only unemployment, violence, insurgency and infiltration.

    On the Congress electoral tie-ups with parties like Badruddin Ajmal-led All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) in Assam and the Indian Secular Force floated by a Muslim cleric in West Bengal, he claimed that Rahul Gandhi is “going the Jinnah way”.

    Addressing an election rally at Palasbari of Kamrup district, Chouhan said development in the state came in only after the BJP formed government five years ago.

    “The Congress ruled Assam for so many years, but what did they give? The Congress governments gave only unemployment, violence, insurgency and infiltration,” the senior BJP leader said.

    The people of the North-Eastern state could see the first glimpse of development when Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed power and a BJP government took charge of Assam in 2016, Chouhan claimed.

    “I also request you all that do not trust the five guarantees of the Congress. They never fulfil their promises. 0You go to other states where Rahul Gandhi had promised to waive farm loans within 10 days of forming governments,” he added.

    The Congress has “guaranteed” that if it is voted to power, a law will be enacted to nullify the CAA, five lakh government jobs will be given, 200 units of electricity will be free for all, housewives will get Rs 2,000 per month and minimum wages of tea garden workers will be raised to Rs 365.

    Addressing a press conference in Guwahati later, Chouhan claimed that after the Congress came to power in Madhya Pradesh in 2018, it did not waive agricultural loans.

    The Kamal Nath government in MP fell in 2020 following a rebellion in the Congress camp and Chouhan became chief minister.

    He presented some video clips of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi promising to waive farm loans, which were claimed to be made before the 2018 assembly election in MP.

    The chief minister claimed that farmers in his state stopped paying instalments after Congress formed the government.

    But as it did not waive farm loans, banks sent notices to farmers to recover the loans with more interests, Chouhan said.

    “Rahul Gandhi is telling lies everywhere. I think in the name Rahul, R stands for rejected, A for absent-minded, H for hopeless, U for useless and L for liar,” Chouhan said.

    Likewise, in the case of the INC (Indian National Congress), I stands for irresponsible, N for nepotism and C for corrupt, he added.

    “The Congress has joined hands with (AIUDF president) Badruddin Ajmal, who is harbouring infiltrators.

    The Assamese culture and heritage will be threatened by Ajmal.

    “The Congress tied up with the Muslim League in Kerala, Furfura Sharif in West Bengal and Ajmal in Assam. Rahul Gandhi is going the Jinnah way,” Chouhan said.

    The CPI(M)-headed Left Front and the Congress have joined hands with the newly-formed Indian Secular Front floated by Abbas Siddiqui, an influential Muslim cleric of Furfura Sharif in West Bengal’s Hooghly district, to forge an alliance.

    Earlier this month, Chouhan had claimed that instead of following Mahatma Gandhi, the Congress is following in ‘Jinnah’s footsteps’ and it will ‘destroy’ the country.

    Chouhan said that if voted to power, the saffron party will come up with a law to prevent love jihad, as has been done in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

    The word “love jihad” is used by right-wing activists to refer to the alleged campaign of Muslims forcing Hindu girls to convert in the guise of love.