Assembly elections are scheduled for next month in Assam. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has made a major electoral move, intensifying his campaign for the upcoming assembly elections. Addressing a massive rally in Bajali on Thursday, Himanta announced that if the BJP is re-elected, 500,000 bighas of government land in the state will be freed from encroachers.
He said that encroachers have been taught a lesson in the last five years and their dominance over indigenous communities has been “significantly reduced.” He described most of these encroachers as “Miyas” (a term considered derogatory for Bengali-speaking migrant Muslims). “In the last five years, we have freed 1.5 lakh bighas of land from encroachment, but our target for the next five years will be to free 5 lakh bighas of government land from encroachment,” he said.
“Committed to protecting caste, land and heritage”
CM Himanta said that only indigenous people will have land rights in Assam. He said, “The BJP is committed to protecting ‘jati, mati and bheti’ (people, land and base) and we will not allow anyone to work against this. It is essential to deal strictly with illegal immigrants for the survival of the indigenous population and we will not compromise on this.”
Attacking state Congress president Gaurav Gogoi, Himanta Biswa Sarma said his concept of a new Greater Assam is unacceptable, as he (Gogoi) is indirectly suggesting that Bangladeshis and the people of the state will have to live together. Sarma alleged that Gogoi and the Congress have always tried to give more importance to the ‘Miya’ community than the indigenous Assamese people.
Voting for Assam elections on April 9
He urged voters to support Dharmeshwar Roy of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and described the party’s alliance with the BJP as inseparable. He also campaigned for AGP candidate Deepak Kumar Das in the neighbouring Barpeta constituency, where the nomination of Congress candidate Mahananda Sarkar was rejected. Elections for the 126-member Assam Assembly will be held on April 9 and the counting of votes will take place on May 4.
