Bedabrat Borah, head of the media department of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, has filed an FIR at the Dispur police station against several Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and social media officials. The FIR names Assam BJP president Dilip Saikia, state social media coordinator Shaktidhar Dey, and other officials from the party’s digital wing. They have been charged with criminal conspiracy, inciting communal tension, promoting enmity between groups, and violating the Election Commission’s code of conduct.
Controversial Video Sparks Controversy
According to the Congress complaint, a video titled “Assam without BJP” was uploaded to social media on September 15. The video attempted to portray Assam as being under Congress rule, showing exaggerated images of a 90 percent Muslim population, meat shops, liquor stalls, and Islamic symbols, and urged people to “vote wisely.” Congress claims this content not only defames Muslims but also attempts to tarnish the image of party leaders Rahul Gandhi and state Congress president Gaurav Gogoi.
Demand for investigation into AI video and inflammatory content
Congress claims this is not an isolated incident. A similar AI-generated video was shared on social media on September 12th. In recent days, several edited videos have gone viral on Twitter (formerly Twitter) depicting illegal immigrants occupying iconic landmarks like the Guwahati airport, the state stadium, and the historic Rangghar. These videos were circulated with inflammatory messages like “We can’t let this dream of paijan come true.” Congress has demanded that the police conduct a forensic investigation of these videos, seize the equipment of the BJP social media team, and remove them from the platform under the IT Act 2000. The party has also appealed to the Election Commission to intervene to prevent violations of the code of conduct.
Gogoi’s Counterattack and Political Significance
Reacting to the controversy, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi called the BJP’s strategy “superficial politics.” He said, “The words, actions, and images created by the BJP IT cell cannot influence Assamese society in the slightest. Assam needs politics that elevates the people to new heights.” According to experts, this controversy is not limited to the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) elections, but is part of a strategy to consolidate political ground ahead of the 2026 assembly elections. Although the BJP has not yet issued an official response to the FIR, the matter appears to be intensifying the political conflict between the Congress and the BJP.
