Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Assam, Assam’s main regional party, Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of breaking several key promises. AJP says that the government has failed to fulfill key promises made to the people of Assam, including full implementation of the Assam Accord, Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to six tribal communities and welfare of the tea garden community.
AJP President Lurinjyoti Gogoi said in a press conference that in the last ten years, the BJP government has completely failed to fulfill its promises made to the people of Assam. Referring to Prime Minister Modi’s 2014 pre-poll promise, he said that Modi had said that after May 16, 2014, all illegal Bangladeshi immigrants would be expelled from the country, but till now no concrete steps have been taken in this direction.
Gogoi also expressed concern over the report of Justice Biplab Kumar Sharma Committee related to Article 6 of the Assam Accord. The committee was formed to suggest constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards for Assamese people. Gogoi alleged that the report has been disappeared from public debate and buried by the government, just like it ignored its other promises.
The AJP president also objected to the recently issued Immigration and Foreigners (Exemption) Order, 2025. The order allows legal status to persons who came to Assam before December 31, 2024. Gogoi called it a move to legalise illegal migration that has been taking away Assam’s resources for the last 53 years. He said it is a direct attack on Assam’s social and population balance.
Besides this, Gogoi also drew attention to the BJP’s failure to grant ST status to six tribal communities – Tea Bagan, Ahom, Matak, Koch-Rajbongshi, Chutia and Moran. He said people from these communities have been waiting for their rights for the last nine years. Also, he condemned the recent lathicharge on members of the All Koch-Rajbongshi Students’ Union (AKRSU) and said that this unrest is a direct result of the BJP’s broken promises. He also expressed concern over the social and economic conditions of tea garden workers, who number over 75 lakh in Assam and constitute more than 20 percent of the state’s total population.
