Decimated by the BJP in this year’s Assembly elections, the Congress in Assam is trying to replicate something that did miracles for the saffron party. It is trying to whip up sentiment about the Assamese identity.
In the wake of the rise in the number of immigrants from Bangladesh, and the minority-based All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), the BJP had reached out to the voters with a call to protect the Assamese identity, culture, and language. And it did wonders – the party took its 2011 tally of five seats to 60 in this year’s polls.
As a joint committee of parliamentarians looks into the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, the passage of which will allow lakhs of non-Muslim immigrants of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan to stay on in the country, the Congress in Assam is siding with the Assamese by opposing the Centre’s move tooth and nail.
The BJP views non-Muslim immigrants (read Hindus) from Bangladesh as refugees, who, it argues, fled the neighbouring country in the face of torture and religious persecution. Ironically, the Congress maintained a similar stand and promised asylum to them. But as protests by Assamese organisations against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill gather momentum, the Congress seems to have read the writing on the wall and sided with the people in opposing it.
Corruption was one of the key reasons for the Congress’ downfall. The Tarun Gogoi government did very little to punish the corrupt. With not much funds flowing into the state’s coffers from the Centre for development and a perceived public mood against it over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, the BJP is trying to keep people in good humour by going hard at corrupt government officials. Over the past three months, at least a dozen senior officials, including the chairman of the Assam Public Service Commission, have been arrested.
They were allegedly shielded by the previous government and their arrests have only pushed the Congress farther from the people.
The November 19 byelections to two seats – one parliamentary and another Assembly – were an opportunity for the Congress to be back in the reckoning. But, surprisingly, it fielded a little-known candidate in the parliamentary seat. The state’s finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, an acclaimed poll strategist who spent 25 years in the Congress but is now with the BJP, said even he had not heard the name of the Congress candidate.
The Congress lacks popular and charismatic leaders and as such is heavily reliant on the old war horse Tarun Gogoi. At 82, Gogoi is leading the party’s charge on issues concerning people. He has been vitriolic in his attack, of the Sonowal government, particularly on issues including the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and price rise.