News Analysis India

Tag: Himanta biswa sharma

  • Assam student jumps off building to escape ragging, critical

    By Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: A student of the Dibrugarh University in Assam was grievously injured after he had jumped off a two-storey building to escape ragging.

    The victim, Anand Sarma, is now admitted at the ICU of a private hospital in Dibrugarh. He is stated to be critical.

    Anand, a commerce student, and two others were allegedly beaten up by a group of senior students and an alumnus. The incident occurred two days ago at university hostel.

    The university authority promised stern actions against the assailants. The police has arrested three students.

    Anand’s mother Sarita lodged an FIR with the police alleging that the students involved in ragging had tortured him and attempted to kill him. She alleged he had been subjected to ragging for the past four months. 

    “We had lodged a complaint with the university authority but no action was taken against the culprits. If actions were taken, my son would not have been in ICU,” she said.

    The incident drew the attention of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. “It has come to notice that a Dibrugarh University student is hurt in an alleged case of ragging. Close watch maintained & follow-up action coordinated with district administration. Efforts on to nab the accused, victim being provided medical care. Appeal to students, say NO to Ragging,” he tweeted.

    It has come to notice that a Dibrugarh University student is hurt in an alleged case of ragging. Close watch maintained & followup action coordinated with district admn. Efforts on to nab the accused, victim being provided medical care.Appeal to students, say NO to Ragging.
    — Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) November 27, 2022

    GUWAHATI: A student of the Dibrugarh University in Assam was grievously injured after he had jumped off a two-storey building to escape ragging.

    The victim, Anand Sarma, is now admitted at the ICU of a private hospital in Dibrugarh. He is stated to be critical.

    Anand, a commerce student, and two others were allegedly beaten up by a group of senior students and an alumnus. The incident occurred two days ago at university hostel.

    The university authority promised stern actions against the assailants. The police has arrested three students.

    Anand’s mother Sarita lodged an FIR with the police alleging that the students involved in ragging had tortured him and attempted to kill him. She alleged he had been subjected to ragging for the past four months. 

    “We had lodged a complaint with the university authority but no action was taken against the culprits. If actions were taken, my son would not have been in ICU,” she said.

    The incident drew the attention of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. “It has come to notice that a Dibrugarh University student is hurt in an alleged case of ragging. Close watch maintained & follow-up action coordinated with district administration. Efforts on to nab the accused, victim being provided medical care. Appeal to students, say NO to Ragging,” he tweeted.

    It has come to notice that a Dibrugarh University student is hurt in an alleged case of ragging. Close watch maintained & followup action coordinated with district admn. Efforts on to nab the accused, victim being provided medical care.
    Appeal to students, say NO to Ragging.
    — Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) November 27, 2022

  • ‘We need revenue to deal with floods’: Himanta on rebel Maharashtra MLAs put up in Assam hotel

    By PTI

    GUWAHATI: Hours after a group of Maharashtra MLAs led by dissident Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde reached Assam and were put up in a luxury hotel, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said that he welcomes all to visit Assam as the state needs revenue to deal with the devastating flood.

    He also said, without elaborating, that he will be happy if Assam becomes an “international political epicentre”.

    Guwahati has many luxury hotels and if the rooms are full, “we should be happy as it will bring in revenue. We will earn through GST and we need it during these difficult times of devastating floods in the state”, Sarma told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

    Altogether 55 lakh people in 32 districts of the North-eastern state are now affected by floods.

    Eighty-nine citizens have lost their lives due to the calamity.

    To a question, he said, “Why should there be a reason for any controversy regarding their visit? We welcome all tourists to visit the state now as we need funds to deal with the floods.

    Why should we turn away Goddess Lakshmi when most of our hotels are empty or have low occupancy during this period?” Asked whether he will meet the dissident MLAs from Maharashtra, Sarma said that there is no need for him to do that.

    “If I can manage, maybe I will meet them for five minutes. In the meantime, some of my legislator colleagues are in touch with them,” he said.

    The chief minister said that he is busy dealing with the flood situation and will visit Nagaon on Wednesday and Silchar on Thursday.

    “I will be happy if the state becomes an international political epicentre. I urge all to visit the state so that we can earn revenue to deal with the situation,” he said.

    The Maharashtra MLAs reached the BJP-ruled state on Wednesday morning by a charter aircraft from Surat and were taken to a luxury hotel on the outskirts of Guwahati amid tight security.

    Shinde, who initially refused to talk to media persons waiting outside the airport, later claimed that he has the support of 46 MLAs.

    The Shiv Sena asserted that they are “committed to Balasaheb Thackeray’s Hindutva ideology and we want to take it forward”.

    The MLAs were taken to Surat from Mumbai on Tuesday and the decision to shift them to Guwahati was taken on security grounds, according to a BJP source.

    This is perhaps the first time that MLAs from a Western Indian state is being taken to a Northeastern state after their rebellion against the party leadership.

    The Shiv Sena-led government in Maharashtra is facing a crisis following the revolt by a section of its MLA led by Shinde.

    Asked why they had come to Guwahati, Shinde said, “It is a nice place”.

  • “Why no action against Himanta?”Assam Congress digs up CM’s old ‘Jai Bangladesh’ remarks

    By Express News Service

    GUWAHATI:  The Congress in Assam on Sunday asked the police why no action was taken against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for his ‘Jai Bangladesh’  remark in the state assembly two years ago.

    “We won’t give protection to anyone for any act that is against the law. But we cannot accept police inaction against BJP MPs and ministers taking the law into their hands,” state Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah said.

    “Let the organisations going after us also talk about the person who shouted the ‘Jai Bangladesh’ slogan in the assembly. Why was no action taken against the chief minister?” he asked.

    The issue was raked up in the wake of the arrest of Congress MLA Sherman Ali Ahmed for his provocative statement on the killing of eight youth at Darrang during the Assam Agitation in 1983.

    The party served a show-cause notice to Ahmed and is likely to suspend him by night. Following his arrest, the MLA had demanded, “Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma should be arrested for making communal remarks”.

    In December 2019, Sarma had made the statement when some members of the Opposition were protesting the introduction of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Assembly.

    Later, an FIR was filed against him. Stating that the law has fixed accountability for the  police, Borah asked, “Will the police function as dictated by the Ministers and the MLAs or the Police Act?” 

    VP inaugurates hospital infra 

    GUWAHATI: Cancer treatment in Assam, which reports around 52,000 new cases every year, is set to get augmented with the installation of a PET-MRI wing at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital in Guwahati.

    It was inaugurated by Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday.

    He was in Assam on a tour of northeast states. Set up at a cost of Rs 62 crore, it is the first-of-its-kind PET-MRI wing in the northeast and the fourth such facility installed at a government hospital in the country.

    The machine works faster than PET-CT and is essential for advanced cancer research activities. 

  • Himanta Biswa Sarma sworn in as Chief Minister of Assam

    By ANI
    GUWAHATI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Himanta Biswa Sarma was sworn in as the 15th Chief Minister of Assam at 12 noon on Monday, replacing former Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

    Sarma, who was the charioteer of Bharatiya Janta Party’s stride in the Northeast was administered the oath in presence of state Governor Jagdish Mukhi, the BJP national President JP Nadda and other leaders.

    Himanta Biswa selected for the role after a crucial meeting was chaired in Delhi by BJP chief JP Nadda on Sunday.

    The BJP has stormed back to power in the crucial Northeastern state retaining its hold on the government.

    Known to have played a pivotal role in the BJP’s growing footprint in the Northeast, Sarma left the Congress in 2015 despite being close to Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi as he felt sidelined.

    The minister’s popularity has been key in the National Democratic Alliance’s victory in the Assembly polls in Assam with the alliance returning to power overcoming the stiff challenge posed by the Congress-led alliance

    He was a key campaigner of the party and strongly and strategically articulated its position on various issues in the state which has a diverse population with sometimes competing interests.

    On being announced the Chief Minister of the state Sarma took to Twitter to express his gratitude to the people of the state.

    “With fragrance of Assam in my heart & love of my wonderful people in my veins, I offer my deepest gratitude to you all. I would not have been what I am had it not been for your pious faith in me. On this Day, I vow to work with & for each one of you with greater passion Assam,” he tweeted.

    In another tweet, he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying, “This is the biggest day in my life, and I so fondly cherish your generous affection. I assure you we shall leave no stone unturned to carry forward your vision of taking Assam, & NE to greater heights.”

  • Sarbananda Sonowal tenders resignation, prior to election of new Assam CM

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Sunday tendered his resignation to Governor Jagadish Mukhi prior to a meeting of the BJP Legislature Party which is expected to elect the next Chief Minister of the state, Raj Bhawan sources said.

    As is the tradition, the Governor asked Sonowal to continue in office till the formation of the new government.

    The party’s central leadership had summoned Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, both contenders for the top post, to New Delhi on Saturday for discussions on the formation of the next government in the state.

    The duo held a series of meetings, lasting for more than four hours, with BJP President J P Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, following which Sarma said the BJP’s legislature party is likely to meet on Sunday and all questions related to the formation of the next government will be answered there.

    The BJP had not announced the name of the Chief Minister before the polls and speculations are rife for the last one week on who would be the next Chief Minister of the state.

    Sonowal was projected as the Chief Ministerial candidate during the 2016 polls which the BJP had successfully won, making him the first BJP chief minister in the North East.

    The ruling BJP alliance is the first non-Congress government in the state to win an election for the second consecutive term.

    Of the 126 assembly seats in Assam, the ruling alliance has secured 75 seats with BJP winning 60 while its alliance partners AGP got nine seats and UPPL six.

  • Softening of Himanta’s punishment raises ‘big question’ on Election Commission’s neutrality: CPI(M)

    The ECI reduced the ban duration of Sarma after he tendered an quot;unconditional apology quot; and assured the poll panel that he would abide by the provisions of the model code.

  • I am extremist in protecting Indian, Assamese culture: Himanta Biswa Sharma

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Labelling AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal as the “enemy of Assam”, state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday asserted that he is an extremist in protecting Indian and Assamese culture.

    Accusing Ajmal of trying to do something alien to Assamese culture, Sarma, the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor, said he will talk about politics of identity till the Lok Sabha MP and opposition leader is in the political scene.

    “I am an extremist in protecting Indian and Assamese culture in this land. If anybody has given me this title, kindly convey my regards and thanks to them,” Sarma told reporters when asked about the opposition branding him as the extreme of polarisation politics.

    Asked if he and Ajmal are equal in their politics of polarisation, the Assam finance minister claimed that while the AIUDF chief is doing something “alien to Assam’s culture”, he is trying to protect Assamese culture.

    “I am trying to protect Indian nationalism. There have to be two extremes. So, if there is a north pole, there will be a south pole. If Badruddin Ajmal disappears, then we will also disappear. hen we will talk about development and something else.

    But as long as Badruddin Ajmal is there, we will talk about development and politics of identity. And if that made me an extremist, I am happy about that,” he said.

    “Probably this is the most dangerous phase of Assam politics. He (Ajmal) is bringing money from fundamentalist organisations. In the name of social service, he is creating a network which is not conducive for Assamese culture,” Sarma added.