Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday launched a blistering attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, calling him “anti-national” and accusing him of supporting only the Muslims of Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Speaking to reporters during an election campaign meeting in Bodoland Territorial Region, Sarma also claimed that the Congress “does not respect icons of Assam,” such as the Kamakhya temple and Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardeva.
“Rahul Gandhi is an anti-India person. He is only with Bangladeshi and Pakistani Muslims. He is not with Indian Hindus, not even with Indian Muslims. Rahul Gandhi is an anti-national personality,” Sarma alleged.
He further alleged: “They (Congress leaders) don’t have faith in Maa Kamakhya, Mahapurush Sankardeva, and do not recognise Charaideo and Rang Ghar. They recognise only a section of religious minorities living in Dhubri. They don’t understand the love of any other people.”
However, the Assam CM did not detail the reasons for calling Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, as “anti-national”.
Sarma’s remarks come just days after Rahul Gandhi slammed the CM during his visit to Guwahati, accusing him of acting like a ‘king’. The Congress leader also predicted that Sarma would have to face imprisonment one day due to corruption charges.
Sarma on Sunday also responed to questions about Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi’s planned visit to Assam, to which he said has no objection.
“I have no objection to Priyanka Gandhi coming to Assam. However, Assam’s Self Help Groups’ women members are 100 times more advanced than Priyanka Gandhi. Assamese women, especially those in SHGs, will defeat Priyanka Gandhi in every aspect.
“She won’t be able to join a competition with them. Our women prepare laaru, pitha (traditional Assamese sweets), do farming in paddy fields, and send children to schools and colleges. How can Priyanka Gandhi compete with our women?” he questioned.
Earlier today, Assam Congress president Gaurav Gogoi stated that Priyanka Gandhi wants to visit Assam, especially Dhubri, where she had campaigned during the last Lok Sabha elections.
“They consider Dhubri as Assam. There is no issue in visiting Dhubri. But first one should talk about visiting Kamakhya, Batadrava, Charaideo Moidam and Rang Ghar, and then to Dhubri also,” Sarma claimed, reacting to it.
The Assam CM stressed that he has no problem with Gandhi visiting Dhubri, but claimed that people of the state in other areas “do not have any interest” in seeing the Congress leader.
“There is no problem in going to Dhubri, but she should visit other areas. However, I feel it is not the time to visit other places. Who will come to see Priyanka Gandhi? Assamese people have no interest in seeing Priyanka Gandhi,” he claimed.
Himanta Assures Govt To Never Evict Indian, Assamese People
In another development, Assam CM Sarma on Sunday also clarified that the state government will never evict “any Indian or Assamese people” as he tried to alleviate fears in the minds of non-tribals living in Bodoland. His remark came a day after he stated that unauthorised occupation of public land by indigenous people is not considered as encroachment.
“Don’t take tension about eviction. It’s a different department which will decide whom to evict. There will be no eviction against any Indian or Assamese people, just keep this in mind,” he added.
He stated that the state government will, however, continue its eviction drives against encroachments by suspected foreigners.
Addressing the non-tribal communities residing in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR), Sarma reassured them, stating, “Nobody can touch you people till Himanta Biswa Sarma is alive. Tell all that he is there, and he will come if anything happens.
Remember that you are safe and have equal rights because THE BJP is here and there will be no second class citizens. All will live peacefully in BTR. Our Gorkha, Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, tribals and non-tribals — no one should think about safety. We will have a peaceful BTR.”
The Assam government conducted a large-scale eviction drive on Sunday in Golaghat district, targeting nearly 1,000 bighas (over 133 hectares) of alleged forest land encroachments. This operation resulted in the displacement of more than 350 families.
This eviction campaign followed the completion of a five-day extensive clearance in the Rengma Reserve Forest, where nearly 11,000 bighas (about 1,500 hectares) of land were reclaimed. This earlier phase saw around 1,500 families displaced, predominantly from the Muslim community, in the Uriamghat area along the Assam-Nagaland border in Sarupathar subdivision.
In addition, 205 households in the Negheribil area of Merapani, situated within the Doyang Reserve Forest, have received eviction notices, with the drive scheduled to begin on August 8.
(With inputs from news agency PTI.)
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