Tag: Himanta Biswa Sarma

  • ‘Rahul Gandhi Can Become Prime Minister But Of Pakistan’: Himanta Biswa Sarma |

    Assam Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma has been campaigning for the party candidates across states and has been quite vocal about why the NDA is vying for over 400 seats in this Lok Sabha Elections. Addressing a public meeting in Bihar’s Siwan, Sarma said that if the NDA gets 400 seats, it would not only fulfil the promise of the Uniform Civil Code but will also end ‘the business of marrying four times’. Indirectly referring to Madrasas, Sarma said that the NDA government will also ‘shut down shops that produce mullas’. He said that the ‘new India’ led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not need madrassas but modern institutions that produce doctors and engineers.

    The Assam CM also added that there won’t be any reservations based on religion and the NDA government would end Muslim reservations. Sarma also said that grand temples would be built in Varanasi and Mathura if the NDA returns to power by winning over 400 Lok Sabha seats.

    He was indirectly referring to Gyanvapi row in Varanasi and Shahi Idgah row in Mathura. The Assam CM said the NDA, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will ensure that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which is an integral part of India, returns to the country.

    मैं लालू यादव जी से कहना चाहता हूँ कि अब हिंदू जग गया है। आप दलितों, आदिवासियों और पिछड़े वर्गों का आरक्षण छीन कर मुसलमानों को नहीं दे पायेंगे। अगर आपको देना है तो पाकिस्तान में जाके दीजिए#BiharCampaign2024 pic.twitter.com/h9Vu1mduS2
    — Himanta Biswa Sarma (Modi Ka Parivar) (@himantabiswa) May 18, 2024

    Invoking the Ram Temple to slam Congress and RJD, Sarma said, “Rahul Gandhi and Lalu Prasad did not attend the consecration of Ram Mandir. They want to send Ram Lalla back to the tent. We must not let this happen.” 

    Slamming the INDIA bloc over reservations based on religion, Sarma said, “Religion-based reservations should be given to Muslims in Pakistan, not India. Lalu Prasad should go to Pakistan to give reservations to Muslims. The NDA will not allow this at any cost.”

    Hitting out at Rahul Gandhi’s PM ambition, Sarma said that the Congress leader can contest elections in Pakistan and become PM there. Sarma also alleged that besides putting up its own candidates, Congress and RJD are also backing Independent candidates in certain seats against BJP nominees.

  • Video: PM Modi Takes Elephant, Jeep Safari In Assam’s Kaziranga National Park |

    New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a two-visit to Assam undertook a jungle safari at the Kazirange National Park early on Saturday morning, news agency ANI reported. PM Modi also took an elephant safari at the park. The Park authorities had made arrangements for both jeep and elephant safaris. He will be there for around two hours, news agency PTI quoted officials as saying. PM Modi reached Assam on Friday for a two-day visit, during which he will launch and lay the foundation of projects worth Rs 18,000 crore.

    Modi arrived at Salonibari airport in Tezpur in the afternoon, where he was greeted by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and others. He then took a helicopter to Panbari in Kaziranga, where he was received by Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal and state Agriculture Minister Atul Bora, along with Sarma and others, who welcomed the PM again as he landed there.

    #WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Kaziranga National Park in Assam today. The PM also took an elephant safari here. pic.twitter.com/Kck92SKIhp
    — ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2024

    The PM completed the final part of his journey of about 15 kms from the Panbari helipad to the Police Guest House near Central Kohora Range in Kaziranga National Park by road. People gathered along the route to the guest house as Modi stood on the footboard of his vehicle and waved to them.

    Bihu and other folk songs and dances were performed along the route, which Modi appreciated with a post on X. “Landed to a very special welcome in Golaghat district, Assam. Got a glimpse of Assam’s diverse and beautiful culture,” the PM wrote, sharing photos of the performances.

    As Modi reached the guest house, where he will stay overnight, Sarma said it was an honour for the people of Assam to have the PM among them as a member of their own family.

     

    #WATCH | Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Kaziranga National Park in Assam today. pic.twitter.com/y24ZqO4jJt
    — ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2024

    As Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji reaches Kaziranga National Park, #ModiParivarAssam comes out in large numbers to welcome their very own family member to the World Heritage Site,” Sarma wrote on X.

    In another post, the CM added, “The most popular leader of the world, elder of our family, respected Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji is heartily welcomed to Kaziranga.”

    After undertaking the safari, Modi will leave for Arunachal Pradesh, where he is scheduled to attend two programmes.

    He will return to Jorhat in the afternoon and inaugurate the 125-ft high ‘Statue of Valour’ of legendary Ahom general Lachit Barphukan. The prime minister will then proceed to Meleng Meteli Pothar, where he will inaugurate and lay the foundation for central and state projects worth a total of around Rs 18,000 crore, the officials said.

    He is also scheduled to address a public meeting at the venue. After the meeting, he will leave for West Bengal. The prime minister had visited Assam on February 4 and launched infrastructure projects worth Rs 11,600 crore.

  • ‘Jab Tak Main Zinda Hoon…’: Assam CM Himanta Sarma vows to eradicate child marriage from state – The Economic Times Video

    Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while addressing Assam Assembly on February 26, vowed to eradicate child marriage from state. He said, “Congress people should listen, as long as I, Himanta Biswa Sarma, am alive, I will not allow marriage of small girls in Assam. We will not rest until we completely close the shop that you people have opened to ruin the daughters of the Muslim community.”

  • On Sandeshkhali, Assam CM Himanta’s Big Prediction For Mamata Banerjee Government |

    The Bharatiya Janata Party, National Commission for Women and the Calcutta High Court came down heavily on the TMC government over the Sandeshkhali violence issue, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday expressed grave concern over the situation in West Bengal and asserted that Sandeshkhali would be the “downfall” of Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress. CM Sarma criticised the treatment of journalists in Bengal, stating that those attempting to disclose the true state of affairs are being arrested.

    Following the BJP’s allegations of sexual violence by Trinamool leaders and multiple accounts of women alleging harassment in Sandeshkhali , Biswa Sarma said, “The condition of Bengal is very bad, the journalists there who are trying to show the reality are also being arrested. The incident that happened in Sandeshkhali, one cannot even imagine about it. He expressed faith in the legal system, asserting that the law would take its course.

    “Such atrocity on women. It was all in the knowledge of the State government. A syndicate was going on there. This has come out before the country. I believe that the law will take its course. Assam CM further warned that a government perpetrating such atrocities would not remain in power for long. “TMC may try all it wants but people won’t remain silent. A government which commits atrocities like this will not last long,” he added.

    Earlier on Monday, West Bengal Police arrested a journalist associated with Republic TV in Sandeshkhali. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a notice to the West Bengal Director General of Police (DGP) directing him to submit a report within two weeks in a case where a journalist of a vernacular news channel was unlawfully detained by police in Sandeshkhali.

    The complainant, who also happens to be the wife of the journalist concerned, alleged that she has no access to him and is concerned about his well-being, the NHRC said, adding that she further submitted that it was an attempt to throttle the media in West Bengal through ‘coercion and intimidation’.
    Meanwhile, the Editors Guild of India also issued a statement on the arrest of the journalist in West Bengal.

    The Sandeshkhali area has been witnessing unrest for over 10 days as women protestors are seeking justice against alleged atrocities committed by TMC leader Sheikh Shahjahan and his aides. A large number of women in Sandeshkhali had accused Trinamool Congress strongman Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters of “land-grab and sexually assaulting” them under coercion.

    Shajahan has been absconding after a mob, allegedly affiliated with him, attacked Enforcement Directorate officials who had gone to search his premises in connection with a ration scam on January 5. Two TMC leaders, North 24 Parganas Zilla parishad member Shiba Prasad Hazra and local party functionary Uttam Sardar, were arrested by police and have been booked on charges of alleged gangrape and attempt to murder.

  • Nyay Yatra during Ram Mandir Pranpratishtha is a conspiracy to create communal tension: Assam CM

    Nyay Yatra during Ram Mandir Pranpratishtha is a conspiracy to create communal tension: Assam CM

  • Milind Deora joins growing list of young leaders leaving Congress

    Former Union minister and ex-MP from Mumbai South Milind Deora’s resignation from the Congress on Sunday is the latest addition to a list of young leaders who have left it to begin new innings in other parties, predominantly the BJP. The resignation also signals a continuing saga of unaddressed concerns of young leaders, once considered close to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

    The latest exit also highlights the disconnect and inaccessibility of the Gandhi family with the lower rung of party leadership, amid dwindling fortunes of the grand old party, which the young leaders are unable to accept.

    Sources close to Deora said he left the party after “a very long and futile wait”. The ex-Lok Sabha MP could not manage an assurance from his own party that he would get to contest from Mumbai South in the upcoming general election, a seat represented by his family for decades, the sources said.

    “The Shiv Sena UBT has been openly laying claim to Mumbai South and the Congress was unable to give an assurance of safety for Milind Deora’s seat. A young leader’s political future was thrown into uncertainty and there was no redressal,” Deora’s aides said as he ended a 55-year-old bond with the Congress in which his late father Murali Deora was a formidable figure and a petroleum minister in the UPA regime.

    Concerns cited by the Deora camp have been listed by leaders who had exited the party before. Lack of redressal of festering issues and intra party factionalism earlier led several promising leaders of the erstwhile Rahul Gandhi camp to leave. The list is long with former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot standing out as the sole exception.

    Pilot stayed back in the Congress despite non fulfilment of promises made to him by the top brass when he called off his revolt in 2020 and returned to the Congress, saying he had buried the hatchet with his bete noire Ashok Gehlot, then CM.

    Union Minister under the Congress led UPA regime Jyotiraditya Scindia was not so patient with factionalism in Madhya Pradesh unit when he resigned from the Congress to join the BJP in March 2020.

    Scindia said he could no longer take the disrespect coming from veteran Kamal Nath.

    In June 2021 another ex-UPA minister Jitin Prasada quit the Congress citing the party’s growing disconnect with the people.

    A series of exodus happened thereafter with Priyanka Chaturvedi joining erstwhile undivided Shiv Sena, former Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev quitting for TMC while former union minister RPN Singh, former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar and party spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill joined the BJP.

    The exits that began with then Assam Congress stalwart Himanta Biswa Sarma leaving the party for the BJP on the eve of 2014 Lok Sabha polls never really stopped and high profile resignations continued with even ex-Punjab CM Amarinder Singh also going to the BJP citing personal insults by the party ahead of Punjab polls in 2022.

    “It is impossible to get an audience with Rahul Gandhi, there is a clear disconnect and one feels suffocated,” a Deora aide said explaining his decision.

    Similar views were earlier aired by most leaders, including Sarma, at the time of their exit.

    Rahul Gandhi personally has long held a view that those who wish to quit are free to do so.

    The Congress leadership has so far chosen to explain the exits as resignations of leaders who don’t have the capacity to take on the BJP in an ideological fight.

    “Once the tide turns in our favour all these leaders will return. For them it’s individual above the party,” he said.

    The Congress also questioned the timing of Deora’s resignation, which came hours before Rahul Gandhi embarked on his ambitious Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Manipur to Mumbai on Sunday.

    The BJP was quick to attack the Congress with IT cell head Amit Malviya saying, “The Congress should first give justice to its leaders rather than launch a Nyay Yatra.”

    Shergill said, “First, Assam’s general secretary (Apurba Bhattacharjee) resigned (from Congress), and now Milind Deora has too. The Congress ‘todo yatra’ has begun.”

    “Rahul Gandhi has to answer regarding the injustice he has done to the party and its leaders,” the BJP leader said.

  • No nod sought: CM Sarma on Congress charge that BJP govt trying to block Yatra in Assam

    Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday said that the state government hasn’t been approached for necessary permission for Congress’ Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

    Sarma told media persons here: “There is no harm in giving permission as the state government always welcomes tourists. However, rally cannot be allowed through school premises and Guwahati city. The rally can move through highways.”

    The yatra is scheduled to commence from Imphal on January 14 and then enter Assam on january 18.On Wednesday, Assam Congress president Bhupen Borah had alleged that BJP-led government was trying to block the yatra in the state.

    “In Jorhat, we have not been granted permission to use a field to park our containers. We have not been given ROROs to travel across the Brahmaputra River to Majuli island,” he said.

    Responding to the charge, Sarma said, “I asked the chief secretary if permission has been sought… But I have been told that no such process has been followed.”

  • peace pact: Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma outlines electoral criteria; says only residents of 200-300 years eligible for 106 assembly seats

    Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that following the delimitation and accord with United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA)only those who have been residing in Assam for the last 200 to 300 years will get elected from nearly 106 assembly seats out of 126 assembly constituencies.

    Sarma while talking to media persons said, “The exercise of delimitation of assembly constituencies and parliamentary seats was done by Election Commission of India and the outcome was 96 seats were secured for Assamese people. In these seats only those residing in Assam for ages can win these seats.”

    He said, “In 12 seats of Barak valley of Assam in around eight seats only the indigenous people of Barak valley will be able to win. If put together we have secured 106 seats for indigenous people. In the peace accords with ULFA it is incorporated that the main principles of delimitation exercise of assemblies and parliamentary constituencies will remain in future. This is done so that demography of the constituencies does not change, and political power remains with Assamese people.”The chief minister said that this will secure Assam politically for another 30 to 40 years.” In the accord there is incorporated that a voter before changing his constituencies must fulfil several conditions. A person cannot encroach on the forest land and become a voter of a new constituency . One can change his voting area if he is the permanent resident by purchasing land or other substantial interest. The ordinary residency must be acquired, like someone is a government servant and moved due to services.”

    The chief minister elaborated that there will be more discussion as to what more will be added. “ULFA accord has achieved what we tried to achieve through different ways. This accord has ensured the highest level of protection within the constitution of India.”

    He added, “We will bring bills in assembly to enable various provisions of this clause of the accord. The government of India when it brings a legislation for delimitation in the country, there will be separate provisions of Assam, we will bring laws to the voters conditionality”.He said that by Assamese we mean those staying in Assam for ages. Those who live in Assam for 200 to 300 years are Assamese. “The political landscape of Assam stands changed after almost 27 years as the Election commission of India has published the Delimitation of assembly and parliamentary constituencies last year.

    On December 29, the government of India and ULFA inked a peace accord.

  • Priyanka Gandhi, Himanta Biswa Sarma get EC notice over poll code violations

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Thursday issued separate show cause notices to Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of the BJP for prima facie violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

    Officials said the two leaders have been asked to respond by October 30 evening, and if they do not, it will be presumed they have nothing to say and the commission will take a decision without making any further reference to them.

    Congress general secretary Vadra was served a notice over her “envelop” remarks related to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s temple visit.

    The EC action came a day after the BJP filed a complaint against her.

    The BJP had accused Priyanka Gandhi of “invoking the personal religious devotion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi” to make false claims during her poll campaign in Rajasthan and urged the Election Commission to take action against her.

    Vadra, the BJP noted in its submission, told a public meeting in Dausa on October 20 that she saw it on TV that when an envelope of donation made by Modi at a temple was opened, it carried only Rs 21.

    She added that she saw the news and is not aware if the claim is true or not, the BJP’s complaint read.

    She then went on to launch an attack on the BJP saying that “envelops” are shown to the public by the party but nothing is found in them after elections.

    Referring to the two notices, a poll panel functionary mentioned the recent remarks of Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar expressing concern over the “plummeting” level of the poll campaign and the EC’s efforts to curb remarks violative of the poll code and law.

    Elections in Rajasthan are due on November 25.

    The notice to BJP leader Sarma was issued for his remarks targeting Chhattisgarh minister Mohammad Akbar, the Congress’ candidate from Kawardha, during the campaign last week.

    The Congress filed a complaint with the EC against Sarma on Wednesday.

    In a speech in Kawardha in Chhattisgarh on October 18, Sarma had taken a controversial dig at Akbar saying that “the land of Mata Kaushalya will get defiled if Akbar isn’t sent off.”

    “If one Akbar comes to some place, he calls 100 Akbars. So, send him off as soon as possible, otherwise the land of Mata Kaushalya will get defiled,” he said.

    It is believed Mata Kaushalya, the mother of Lord Ram, was from what is modern-day Chhattisgarh.

    Sarma also attacked the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government in Chhattisgarh over several issues, including religious conversion.

    “Today, the tribals of Chhattisgarh, who are dear to us, are being encouraged to convert on a daily basis. And when someone raises their voice against it, Bhupesh Baghel ji says ‘we are secular’. Is beating up Hindus your secularism? This country is a country of the Hindus and will belong to Hindus. Do not teach us secularism, we do not need to learn secularism from you,” he said.

    In its complaint to the Election Commission, the Congress alleged that Sarma’s remarks showed a clear-cut intention to incite sections of society against one another.

    While issuing the notice to Sarma, the Election Commission reminded him of a provision in the poll code that states that “no party or candidate shall include in any activity which may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes and communities, religious or linguistic.”

    Elections to the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly will be held in two phases – on November 7 and 17. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp

    NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Thursday issued separate show cause notices to Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma of the BJP for prima facie violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

    Officials said the two leaders have been asked to respond by October 30 evening, and if they do not, it will be presumed they have nothing to say and the commission will take a decision without making any further reference to them.

    Congress general secretary Vadra was served a notice over her “envelop” remarks related to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s temple visit.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2′); });

    The EC action came a day after the BJP filed a complaint against her.

    The BJP had accused Priyanka Gandhi of “invoking the personal religious devotion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi” to make false claims during her poll campaign in Rajasthan and urged the Election Commission to take action against her.

    Vadra, the BJP noted in its submission, told a public meeting in Dausa on October 20 that she saw it on TV that when an envelope of donation made by Modi at a temple was opened, it carried only Rs 21.

    She added that she saw the news and is not aware if the claim is true or not, the BJP’s complaint read.

    She then went on to launch an attack on the BJP saying that “envelops” are shown to the public by the party but nothing is found in them after elections.

    Referring to the two notices, a poll panel functionary mentioned the recent remarks of Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar expressing concern over the “plummeting” level of the poll campaign and the EC’s efforts to curb remarks violative of the poll code and law.

    Elections in Rajasthan are due on November 25.

    The notice to BJP leader Sarma was issued for his remarks targeting Chhattisgarh minister Mohammad Akbar, the Congress’ candidate from Kawardha, during the campaign last week.

    The Congress filed a complaint with the EC against Sarma on Wednesday.

    In a speech in Kawardha in Chhattisgarh on October 18, Sarma had taken a controversial dig at Akbar saying that “the land of Mata Kaushalya will get defiled if Akbar isn’t sent off.”

    “If one Akbar comes to some place, he calls 100 Akbars. So, send him off as soon as possible, otherwise the land of Mata Kaushalya will get defiled,” he said.

    It is believed Mata Kaushalya, the mother of Lord Ram, was from what is modern-day Chhattisgarh.

    Sarma also attacked the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government in Chhattisgarh over several issues, including religious conversion.

    “Today, the tribals of Chhattisgarh, who are dear to us, are being encouraged to convert on a daily basis. And when someone raises their voice against it, Bhupesh Baghel ji says ‘we are secular’. Is beating up Hindus your secularism? This country is a country of the Hindus and will belong to Hindus. Do not teach us secularism, we do not need to learn secularism from you,” he said.

    In its complaint to the Election Commission, the Congress alleged that Sarma’s remarks showed a clear-cut intention to incite sections of society against one another.

    While issuing the notice to Sarma, the Election Commission reminded him of a provision in the poll code that states that “no party or candidate shall include in any activity which may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes and communities, religious or linguistic.”

    Elections to the 90-member Chhattisgarh assembly will be held in two phases – on November 7 and 17. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp

  • Citing past violence in Manipur, Himanta says conflict in state is due to Congress’ wrong policies

    Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday blamed the Congress and its policies of the past for the ongoing conflicts in Manipur and the rest of the Northeast.

    “Manipur has seen ethnic conflicts and killings of civilians and defence personnel for 75 years,” Sarma said.

    He shared figures of human deaths in ethnic conflicts and other violent incidents in the state since 1990.

    He said 300 people were killed in the state in 1990, 1,100 in 1993, 400 in 1997, 95 in 2001, 140 in 2003, 105 in 2006, 200 in 2008, 220 in 2010 and 165 in 2012. He said ethnic conflicts and other violent activities were the reasons behind the deaths. He said all these incidents occurred during Congress regimes.

    “I want to clearly say that because of the wrong policies adopted by the Congress during the formative years, today the states in the Northeast have not been able to resolve various disputes that exist from the time India attained freedom,” the Assam CM said.

    “They (Congress) created situations. They put provisions in the Constitution. They either created safeguards in the Constitution which are creating various issues and problems among the communities or they had not done something which should have been done in the very beginning to resolve conflicts,” Sarma alleged.

    ALSO READ | Case registered against Assam Rifles personnel for ‘obstructing’ police in Manipur

    He asked the Congress to think and introspect on how Manipur is burning because of the party’s wrong policies and wrong approach towards the people of the Northeast.

    “The sole responsibility is with the Congress. They must also remember that during all these violent activities, none of their Prime Ministers visited Manipur or tried to give a healing touch,” Sarma said.

    He also said no Congress Union minister ever visited Manipur and stayed there for three nights and none of its ministers of state at the Centre stayed in the state for a month to resolve issues. He made the reference in the context of the visits by Union home minister Amit Shah and his deputy Nityanand Rai.

    Without naming Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi, he said an Assam MP said former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had visited Assam’s Kokrajhar during communal violence. He said there were two “incidents” (communal violence )– one in 2008 and another in 2012.

    “In 2008, almost 64 people were killed, 3,211 houses were burnt, 115 were injured and 11,690 others were affected in Darrang and Udalguri districts. There are no records suggesting Singh visited Assam at that point in time,” Sarma said, adding Singh did visit Kokrajhar in 2012 but only for an hour.

    “That did not resolve the problem. The conflict was resolved when at the initiative of Intelligence Bureau, I took Bodo and Muslim leaders to Delhi and a discussion had taken place in the presence of then Union home secretary RK Singh,” the Assam CM added.

    GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday blamed the Congress and its policies of the past for the ongoing conflicts in Manipur and the rest of the Northeast.

    “Manipur has seen ethnic conflicts and killings of civilians and defence personnel for 75 years,” Sarma said.

    He shared figures of human deaths in ethnic conflicts and other violent incidents in the state since 1990.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    He said 300 people were killed in the state in 1990, 1,100 in 1993, 400 in 1997, 95 in 2001, 140 in 2003, 105 in 2006, 200 in 2008, 220 in 2010 and 165 in 2012. He said ethnic conflicts and other violent activities were the reasons behind the deaths. He said all these incidents occurred during Congress regimes.

    “I want to clearly say that because of the wrong policies adopted by the Congress during the formative years, today the states in the Northeast have not been able to resolve various disputes that exist from the time India attained freedom,” the Assam CM said.

    “They (Congress) created situations. They put provisions in the Constitution. They either created safeguards in the Constitution which are creating various issues and problems among the communities or they had not done something which should have been done in the very beginning to resolve conflicts,” Sarma alleged.

    ALSO READ | Case registered against Assam Rifles personnel for ‘obstructing’ police in Manipur

    He asked the Congress to think and introspect on how Manipur is burning because of the party’s wrong policies and wrong approach towards the people of the Northeast.

    “The sole responsibility is with the Congress. They must also remember that during all these violent activities, none of their Prime Ministers visited Manipur or tried to give a healing touch,” Sarma said.

    He also said no Congress Union minister ever visited Manipur and stayed there for three nights and none of its ministers of state at the Centre stayed in the state for a month to resolve issues. He made the reference in the context of the visits by Union home minister Amit Shah and his deputy Nityanand Rai.

    Without naming Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi, he said an Assam MP said former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had visited Assam’s Kokrajhar during communal violence. He said there were two “incidents” (communal violence )– one in 2008 and another in 2012.

    “In 2008, almost 64 people were killed, 3,211 houses were burnt, 115 were injured and 11,690 others were affected in Darrang and Udalguri districts. There are no records suggesting Singh visited Assam at that point in time,” Sarma said, adding Singh did visit Kokrajhar in 2012 but only for an hour.

    “That did not resolve the problem. The conflict was resolved when at the initiative of Intelligence Bureau, I took Bodo and Muslim leaders to Delhi and a discussion had taken place in the presence of then Union home secretary RK Singh,” the Assam CM added.