GUWAHATI: The Congress on Friday opposed Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s statement that the BJP would bring Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state if it got re-elected.
Congress leader Pawan Khera predicted that Sarma would not return to power.
“First of all, he (Sarma) will not return to power. He will go to jail after this election. He knows it. I know it,” Khera told media persons in Guwahati.
“This country is a collection of several belief systems, customs, traditions, and languages. You cannot try and impose one language, one system, one belief, one faith on everyone,” he further stated.
Speaking in the Assembly on Thursday, the chief minister “assured” that if the NDA retained power after next year’s Assam elections, it would bring UCC in the state.
“Stop me but if you cannot, I will bring UCC in the first session of the Assembly,” he stated, challenging the Opposition after the Assembly had passed a bill banning polygamy.
Meanwhile, Khera accused Sarma of presiding over “large-scale corruption” and eroding the cultural identity that has long defined the state. He alleged that Assam’s global reputation, built by icons like Zubeen Garg, was being tarnished under the current regime.
“Assam was once known for tea, culture and harmony. Today, it is being associated with drugs, cattle smuggling and corruption. Even the meaning of ‘ABCD’ has changed,” he remarked.
Accusing the BJP-led government of ignoring long-pending issues of tea garden workers, Khera said the chief minister “misused power instead of solving people’s problems.”
He claimed that outsiders were being brought into the state to manipulate the electoral process. “In the coming election, you may see buses and trains full of voters being mobilised. This is a direct attack on indigenous Assamese identity,” the Congress leader warned.
He claimed that Assam’s democratic and political identity was at stake and urged people to protect the state’s future before it was too late.
He projected state Congress president Gaurav Gogoi as the face of a new generational shift in Assam’s politics, drawing parallels with the development era under former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.
Sharpening his attack, Khera accused Sarma of being overly dependent on law enforcement agencies and the Election Commission (EC). “Without support from the police and EC, he cannot move freely,” Khera said.
He further claimed that tribal lands in Assam were being handed over to corporate houses.