News Analysis India

Tag: Assam polls 2021

  • Congress’ anti-CAA ‘gamochas’ campaign picks up in poll-bound Assam

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Carrying forward Rahul Gandhi’s anti-CAA pitch, the Assam Congress members have collected over one lakh ‘Gamochas’ (scarf) with anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) messages so far for display at the ‘Martyrs Memorial’ which the party proposes to set up in Guwahati on coming to power.

    Congres workers have collected the ‘Gamochas’ (traditional white and red woven cloth offered as an honour in Assam) as part of its door-to-door campaign.

    Many people have themselves handed it over to senior Congress leaders to mark their dissent against the Act, party spokesperson Bobbeeta Sharma said on Wednesday.

    Various party leaders also took to social media to share pictures of the gamochas collected.

    Following Rahul Gandhi’s no-CAA call at the Sivsagar rally, the state unit has launched the campaign to gather gamochas with anti-CAA messages to keep the contentious issue at the forefront of its election campaign in the state.

    According to the CAA Act, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 and facing religious persecution there will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

    Assam Pradesh Congress President Ripun Bora said, “our hope for a united and prosperous future for the state is alive and thriving, as people have truly risen up to fight back divisive forces.

    “It is amazing that over a period of few days, we have already collected over one lakh gamochas with anti-CAA messages”.

    Bora had earlier expressed the hope of amassing at least 50 lakh gamochas from across the state The party’s manifesto committee chairman Gaurav Gogoi said that one lakh gamochas have been amassed within days and this is a testimony of the extraordinary response from across the state to the party’s anti-CAA gamocha collection drive.

    Gogoi said that he was grateful to the people for coming all out in support of our endeavours to ensure CAA is out for good in Assam.

    Chairman of the congress campaign committee Pradyut Bordoloi said that all who have signed the gamochas have become an integral part of history and “together we shall quash CAA and show it the door.”

    Congress legislature party leader Debabrata Saikia said that over one lakh gamochas inscribed with anti-CAA testimonials in just a couple of days speak volumes of the commitment and tremendous support of people towards the party’s campaign against the legislation.

    Elections to the 126-member Assam assembly are likely to be held in March-April this year.

  • Modi ‘migratory bird’: Grand Alliance hits out at PM ahead of Assam polls

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: The Congress-led Grand Alliance in Assam on Monday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a “migratory bird” who visits the state often but does not solve any problem.

    The comment was made after Modi paid his third visit in a month to the poll-bound state and dedicated to the nation a number of projects in different parts of the state.

    The Congress, which had posed six questions to the prime minister before his arrival, placed them again at a joint press conference with five alliance partners after he left.

    The questions asked were related to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, generation of employment in the state, granting of ST status to six communities, rise in the prices of essential commodities, minimum wage to tea garden workers and the exorbitant rise in fuel price.

    The Congress, which was in power for 15 years in the state since 2001, has formed the ‘Grand Alliance’ with Badruddin Ajmal’s AIUDF, CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML) and Anchalik Gana Morcha (AGM), which was launched by a section of intellectuals, to fight the coming Assembly election against BJP.

    Assam Pradesh Congress Committee president Ripun Bora said “We asked six questions to Modi and hoped that he will answer at least one of them. Unfortunately he did not do that. He is just a migratory bird and nothing else. Let him come, visit and then go back”.

    Continuing his attack, Bora, also Rajya Sabha MP, said “Modi said he will continue to come to Assam till the model code of conduct for the Assembly election is enforced.

    Why did he not come when the state was suffering from flood? Why did he not come when five youths were gunned down by police during the anti-CAA movement (in December 2019)?” He also questioned Modi’s silence over kidnapping of two oil sector employees by ULFA(I) militants and sought to know what action the government is taking for their safe release.

    All India United Democratic Front(AIDUF) organisational general secretary Aminul Islam said the frequent visits by Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president J P Nadda post the formation of the ‘Grand Alliance’ prove that the BJP is afraid of losing the polls.

    “The BJP-led NDA is frustrated, scared and trying to save its government. They have lied in every front — NRC, Assam Accord, CAA, investments and border sealing. The people now know that it is bluffing,” he added.

    CPI(M) Assam Committee Secretary Deben Bhattacharyya said the BJP government gave jobs to only 80,000 youths in the state against its promise of 25 lakh employment in the last five years.

    AGM working president Manjit Mahanta wondered why Modi and other “big” national leaders are visiting the state repeatedly if BJP is not scared of the ‘Grand Alliance’.

    Modi had since January 23 addressed three public rallies at Sivasagar, Dhekiajuli and Silapathar as part of official functions to roll out various schemes and projects.

    The press conference of the opposition alliance was also addressed by CPI state secretary Munin Mahanta and CPI(ML) central committee member Bibek Das.

    The election to the 126-member Assam Assembly is likely in March-April.

    The 2016 election had given a fractured mandate and no party got an absolute majority in the current assembly.

    BJP is currently the single largest party with 60 MLAs, while its allies Asom Gana Parishad and Bodoland People’s Front now have 13 and 11 lawmakers respectively.

    The ruling coalition also has the support of an independent MLA.

    The opposition Congress has 19 MLAs at present, while AIUDF has 14 members in the House in Assam.

  • Assam’s Congress-led grand alliance bickers over seats

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: There are rumblings in poll-bound Assam’s Congress-led grand alliance of Opposition parties even before they meet and hold discussions on seat-sharing arrangements.

    Apart from its traditional bastions, the minority-based All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) is seeking to contest from some Muslim-majority seats which are currently held by the Congress. 

    Congress, AIUDF, CPI, CPM, CPI-ML and regional Anchalik Gana Morcha are the six constituents of the grand alliance. They came together last month to put up a united fight against the ruling BJP.

    “Haven’t you elected Mujibur Rahman in advance from the Dalgaon seat? We are a constituent of the grand alliance, so I cannot say if Rahman will be the consensus candidate. But you can say it. Who do you want? I will show this video of yours at the meeting of the grand alliance. I will say the demand for Mujibur is huge,” AIUDF chief and Lok Sabha member Maulana Badruddin Ajmal told a crowd at a rally in Dalgaon. 

    Apart from Dalgaon, the AIUDF has set its sights on Baghbor, Sarukhetri and Mankachar seats, all of them held by the Congress. Ajmal has already held a rally at Sarukhetri. 

    ALSO READ | Assam polls: Sonowal govt launches new scheme, doles out money to lure tea garden workers

    The Dhubri MP said in the event of a disagreement, AIUDF and Congress will go for a friendly contest at Dalgaon. 

    “What if the grand alliance doesn’t accept Rahman’s candidature from Dalgaon? Are you all ready if there is a friendly contest? Rahman stands a good chance to win the polls,” Ajmal, who is also a perfume baron, said addressing the crowd.

    He said Congress and AIUDF could face a Dalgaon-like situation in two to four other constituencies. 

    Ilias Ali, the sitting Congress MLA from Dalgaon, said he failed to comprehend why the AIUDF was eyeing this seat.

    “Since I am the sitting MLA, it is natural that I will contest from the seat. I don’t know why Ajmal wants to field someone from his party here,” a confused Ali said.

    He said a third party will benefit from the split of votes if both Congress and AIUDF contest from the seat. 

    The constituents of the grand alliance are likely to meet this week and discuss seat-sharing arrangements. 

    The Congress had appealed to Asom Jatiya Parishad (AJP) and Raijor Dal, two regional entities floated last year against the backdrop of the agitation against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act, to join the grand alliance. But they are working towards forming a united front of regional forces. AJP, Raijor Dal and Autonomous State Demand Committee have already forged an alliance.

    Assam Congress chief Ripun Bora said the grand alliance was envisaged to oust the BJP from power.

    “We are yet to hold discussions with the other components in the grand alliance on seat-sharing arrangements but we (Congress) have five-six qualified faces in each of the 126 seats,” Bora asserted. 

  • Some forces seated abroad conspiring against India, not sparing even Indian tea: PM Modi

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said some forces seated abroad were conspiring against India and they were not sparing even the Indian tea.

    “As I talk about the tea workers, I want to tell you of a conspiracy hatched to defame the country. The conspirators have gone to such an extent that they are not sparing even the Indian tea. They are saying the image of Indian tea has to be tarnished worldwide, systematically,” Modi told a crowd after remotely inaugurating and laying the foundation stones of some projects at a programme in poll-bound Assam’s Dhekiajuli.

    “The evidence that we have suggests the forces are seated abroad, ready to launch an attack on India’s tea-based identity,” the PM said without naming the forces.

    He said the tea workers and each individual who drinks tea will seek an explanation from the political parties for maintaining silence on it.

    “But I want to tell the conspirators that no matter how much you conspire, the country won’t allow you to succeed. The tea workers will win this battle. Those who are conspiring to launch an attack on Indian tea, they are not strong enough to confront the strength of our tea workers,” Modi asserted.

    The PM underscored various steps initiated to better the lives of tea workers. He spoke about the Cha Bagichhar Dhan Puraskar Mela scheme under which the Assam government has transferred Rs 584 crore to the bank accounts of close to 7.5 lakh tea workers in three instalments.

    “Assam’s happiness and progress are Assam’s tea gardens. The red tea of Sonitpur is known for its special flavour. Who knows the taste of Assam tea better than me? That’s why I always see the progress of tea workers with the progress of Assam,” Modi said.

    He also made reference to a scheme of Assam’s BJP-led government under which pregnant tea garden women are handed a financial assistance of Rs 12,000. He lauded the government for sending mobile medical units to the tea gardens and supplying free medicines to the workers.

    Stating that a special scheme entailing Rs 1,000 crore was announced in the Budget for the welfare of the tea community in Assam, he said this would make the lives of the workers easier.

    Faced with a tough election, the BJP is trying to woo the tea workers in Assam. The state has 126 Assembly seats and in 40-42 of them, the votes of tea garden workers determine the fate of candidates.

    The problems for the BJP increased in the aftermath of the formation of a Congress-led grand alliance of six Opposition parties and the birth of two regional forces.

  • Shah plays infiltration card against Congress-AIUDF in poll-bound Assam

    By Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: Listing out the achievements of the BJP-led government in Assam, Home Minister Amit Shah pitched for another term to ‘safeguard’ the state’s interests. Shah on Sunday said the Congress- AIUDF combine would open ‘all gates’ to infiltrators if voted to power.

    Addressing his first political rally in the poll-bound state, Shah took a swipe at the Congress for calling the BJP communal by questioning its alliance with Badruddin Ajmal-led AIUDF, which draws support mainly from Muslims.

    At the Vijay Sankalp Samaroh, Shah asserted that an era of peace and development has been ushered in Assam by the BJP.

    Appealing to the people to vote for BJP, Shah said Assam has become ‘bullet-free and agitation free’ and the next BJP dispensation will make it ‘flood-free’, calling floods its biggest problem.

    Shah projected his party as the only alternative capable of safeguarding and promoting the regional culture.

    He also took a dig at the Assam Jatiya Parishad, a party floated by former AASU leader Lurinjyoti Gogoi, which is tipped to ally with Akhil Gogoi-led Raijor Dal, without naming them, saying they are in the poll arena to help the Congress by trying to cut into votes of the BJP.

    These two parties are stridently opposed to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and have alleged the CAA is a ‘threat’ to Assam’s culture and identity.

    The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), which has led mass agitations over the issue of regional identity in the past, has backed Assam Jatiya Parishad.

    Hitting out at the Congress, the Home Minister said the party had adopted the British Empire’s policy of ‘divide and rule’ by pitting different groups of people against one another, leading to bloodshed and loss of lives of thousands of youth.

  • Ahead of Modi visit, AASU takes out torchlight processions in Assam to protest against CAA

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: The All Assam Students Union (AASU) on Friday took out torchlight processions pressing for their demands, including scrapping of the Citizenship Amendment Act, days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah set foot in the state.

    The AASU is also in favor of repealing the Environmental Impact Assessment Act, and implementation of the report of the Committee on Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, which safeguards the constitutional rights of indigenous people.

    In Guwahati, police barricaded the AASU headquarters ‘Swahid Bhawan’ and did not allow the protesters to move out with torchlights, but the students’ body staged their protest behind the barriers.

    AASU advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya and president Dipanka Kumar Nath were seen engaged in a heated argument with police officers, who said the rally would be allowed if they handed over the torchlights.

    “We refuse to hand over the torchlights as this was a part of our protest program and we will not change it. We, time and again, assured the authorities that our agitation will be non-violent, democratic and peaceful but the BJP government is scared as they failed the people of Assam,” Bhattacharya said.

    He was particularly critical of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who was the president of the AASU when Bhattacharya was its general secretary, for sending police to quell the protest.

    “It was from Swahid Bhawan that Sonowal reached the chief minister’s office and now he is sending force to stop democratic and peaceful protests. This is shameful and we condemn this,” he said.

    “AASU had taken out torchlight processions since the Assam movement against foreigners and no dispensation stopped it. This is the first government to take such a step, and this proves that the CM is a coward and his government is afraid of non-violent and democratic protest,” Bhattacharya said.

    The protesters shouted slogans against Modi, Shah, and Sonowal and demanded that the CAA and EIA be repealed along with the implementation of the report of the Clause Six Committee.

    The PM had assured AASU that the recommendations of the committee will be implemented to the “last comma and full stop, but it will be nearly a year now that the report was submitted, and no action has been taken so far”, he alleged.

    “The constitutional safeguard under Clause 6 of Assam Accord is our democratic right and not any charity by the prime minister or the home minister.

    Our protests will continue till these demands are fulfilled,” the AASU leader asserted.

    PM Modi will be arriving in the Sivasagar district on Saturday to launch a special programme of the state government to distribute land ‘patta’ or allotment certificates to over one lakh landless indigenous people.

    Shah is scheduled to visit the state on Sunday.

    Meanwhile, four AASU members were injured in a clash with the police who stopped them from taking out the torchlight procession at Tezpur, following which the district unit of the students organisation called for a 12-hour Sonitpur Bandh, leaders of the students’ body said.

    AASU will stage protests in all district and sub-divisional headquarters by covering their faces with a black cloth during Modi’s visit on Saturday, and observe ‘Black Day’ on January 24 by burning copies of the CAA during the home minister’s visit.

  • Ahead of PM’s visit to poll-bound Assam, Congress poses 24 questions for him

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: The Congress in Assam on Thursday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi with 24 questions on issues such as enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the governments “failure” to deport Bangladeshis illegally living in the state and “creating hurdles” in development of industry.

    State Congress president Ripun Bora posed these questions in a press conference ahead of the prime ministers visit to the poll-bound state on Saturday.

    The prime minister has endangered the existence of the indigenous Assamese people by imposing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) on them, Bora alleged.

    The CAA says that members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 facing religious persecution in those countries will not be treated as illegal immigrants but will be given Indian citizenship.

    Many groups in Assam are afraid that CAA would lead to an influx of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, which in turn would harm the interests of indigenous people.

    The Congress leader questioned Modi how can he claim to be a well-wisher of the state when he has totally disregarded the Assam Accord which pledges protection the indigenous population in the state.

    Clause Six of the Assam Accord, 1985, says that constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.

    Bora said that the BJP had announced before the last assembly elections in 2016 that there will not be a single illegal Bangladeshi in the state.

    “How many Bangladeshis have been deported by Modi? Why did they (the BJP) have to impose the CAA on us and bring in more Bangladeshis in the state?” the Rajya Sabha MP said.

    He also asked whether the BJP government has been successful in sealing the Indo-Bangladesh border.

    During his recent visit to the state, BJP president JP Nadda had claimed that six communities — tea tribes, Koch- Rajbongshi, Moran, Muttock, Chutia and Tai-Ahom — have been granted Scheduled Tribe status, but they have not yet got it, the state Congress president said.

    After coming to power in 2014, the prime minister abolished the North East Industrial and Investment Promotion policy, creating hurdles in the way of industrial development of Assam, he claimed.

    In August 2017, the prime minister had announced a financial package to control floods in the region but the promise remained unfulfilled, Bora alleged.

    Guwahati has not become a smart city as promised by the BJP which also sold off 27 oilfields in Upper Assam to private companies, the Congress leader claimed.

    The prime minister on Saturday will launch a special programme of the Assam government to distribute land ‘patta’ or land allotment certificates to over one lakh landless indigenous people.

  • Those excluded from NRC can vote in Assam; Congress, AIUDF welcome EC decision

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: A day after the Election Commission announced that those excluded from the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be eligible to vote in the upcoming assembly poll if their names are there on the voter list, the ruling BJP on Thursday said status quo about their voting rights has to be maintained while the Congress and the AIUDF welcomed the decision.

    The final NRC, a database of Indian citizens living in Assam which was updated under the supervision of the Supreme Court and published on August 31, 2019, excluded names of over 19 lakh of the 3.29 crore applicants.

    However, it has not been notified by the Registrar General of India yet.

    This leaves the document without any official validity.

    “Lakhs of Indian citizens were excluded in the NRC but names of many illegal immigrants are there in it. The NRC document in its present form has not been accepted by the party and we have asked for a re-verification. Till it is done, status quo has to be maintained as the notification is yet to be issued,” BJP Assam unit president Ranjeet Dass told PTI.

    State Congress Spokesperson Bobbeeta Sharma said that Names of many genuine Indian citizens were left out of the final NRC.

    “The EC has taken the right step in allowing them to vote. Otherwise, their democratic rights would have been infringed upon,” she said.

    The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), an alliance partner of the Congress for the assembly polls due in March-April, also welcomed the EC’s decision describing it as “a positive move”.

    AIUDF General Secretary Aminul Islam said, “We also want a permanent solution to the problems of Doubtful or D- voters which exists only in Assam. We requested the Election Commission that doubtful voters should be allowed to vote unless they have been declared as foreigners,” he said.

    D-voters are those who could not provide evidence in favour of their Indian nationality.

    Altogether 83,008 cases of doubtful voters are pending in Foreigners Tribunals in Assam while 86,756 others were declared as foreigners in the last five years, the government informed the Lok Sabha in September last year.

    Lurinjyoti Gogoi, president of the newly formed Assam Jatiya Parishad, however, said that those excluded from the NRC should not be allowed to vote as it will only lead to the advantage of some political parties.

    Gogoi, as general secretary of All Assam Students Union (AASU), was a petitioner in the Supreme Court seeking to remove discrepancies in the NRC.

    Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora, citing a Union Home Ministry order, said here on Wednesday that those excluded from the final NRC can vote in the assembly polls if their names are there in the published electoral rolls.

    After the publication of the final NRC, almost all stakeholders and political parties criticised it as a faulty document, alleging exclusion of indigenous people and inclusion of illegal migrants.

  • Congress to contest 2021 Assam assembly polls in alliance with five parties

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: The Congress’ initiative of forming a ‘Grand Alliance’ to oust the BJP from power in Assam took shape on Tuesday with the party announcing it will contest the forthcoming assembly polls in alliance with five other political outfits.

    The Congress will join hands with the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), the CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML) and the Anchalik Gana Morcha to ensure that the BJP with its “anti-people policies” does not return to power, APCC president Ripun Bora told reporters here.

    “Our doors are open for all anti-BJP parties and we invite the regional political parties to join hands with us against our fight with the BJP,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.

    The Congress has taken the lead to oust all communal forces in the best interest of the state and the nation, he said.

    The party has taken the forthcoming Assam elections “very seriously and deputed senior leaders” to the state, Bora said.

    A high-level Congress team, led by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, and comprising AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik, Bihar Congress MLA Shakeel Ahmed, and the party’s Assam-in-Charge Jitendra Singh are currently in the state and held discussions with the representatives of the five parties to chalk out the alliance.

    “Our central leaders held a series of discussions with the grassroots to state-level functionaries and it was decided to challenge the communal BJP by uniting the anti-BJP forces,” he said.

    Singh said Congress welcomes all parties to come forward in the interest of saving the culture, language, identity and heritage of the state.

    “BJP has indulged in the politics of divide in Assam, the north-east and the country. We will challenge the BJP and defeat them. It is our appeal to all opposition parties to come together to save Assam, ensure the development and realise the dreams of the youth,” he said.

    He also alleged that the BJP has put up “Assam for sale” by selling off land and the state’s resources to businessmen from Gujarat and other states.

    “The coming together of the six parties is without any pre-condition but merely with a motive to save Assam from the BJP, which has made a mockery of democracy,” Singh added.

    AIUDF general secretary Aminul Islam said that after a long wait, six parties have come together, and “we welcome this initiative”.

    “This is an effort to defeat the communal forces and maintain harmony among all sections of people in the state,” he said.

    Rajya Sabha MP and Anchalika Gana Morcha president Ajit Kumar Bhuyan said this was a “historic moment as it is the demand of the times and the people that a united opposition comes together to oust the BJP”.

    CPI(M) leader Deben Bhattacharya appealed to the Bodoland Peoples’ Front (BPF), an ally in the ruling BJP-led state government, which was dumped by the saffron party in the recent Bodoland Territorial Council polls, to join the alliance.

    The initiative for a ‘Grand Alliance’ was taken by three-time former chief minister Tarun Gogoi, who had started discussions with opposition parties to take this forward.

    His death due to post-COVID complications in November had delayed the process.

    The Congress, which had ruled the state for three terms since 2001, and had won 26 out of the 126 legislative assembly seats in 2016, now has only 20 members in the House.

  • Election Commission to visit poll-bound Assam, Bengal from Monday

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora along with Election Commissioners Sushil Chandra and Rajiv Kumar will visit Assam and West Bengal beginning Monday to take stock of preparations for assembly polls to be held in the next few months.

    The commission would reach Guwahati on Monday evening and leave for Kolkata on January 20 evening according to the programme decided last week, official sources said.

    Deputy Election Commissioner Sudip Jain was in West Bengal last week to meet officials.

    This was Jain’s second visit to West Bengal.

    Another EC official was in Assam to take stock of the situation there.

    They had briefed the commission about their visits to the two states on Friday.

    It is usual for the commission to visit poll-bound states before announcing the schedule of Assembly elections.

    But it had visited Bihar after announcing the dates for the recently concluded elections.

    The terms of the legislative assemblies of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala and Puducherry are coming to an end on different dates in May and June this year.

    The Assembly elections are likely to take place sometime in April and May.

    The Election Commission had last week discussed with Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla the availability and requirement of central security forces for the upcoming Assembly elections.

    The meeting held at the EC headquarters here was “primarily to discuss requirement vis-a -vis availability of central armed police forces, and related matters, for the upcoming assembly elections to the states of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, and the Union Territory of Puducherry,” the poll panel had said.