Guwahati: BJP accuses Congress of betraying Assam and promoting demographic change
Staff reporter
Guwahati: Kishore Kumar Upadhyay, Chief Spokesperson of the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), launched a scathing attack on the Congress party during a press briefing at the state BJP headquarters on Tuesday. He accused the grand old party of neglecting Assam’s interests, enabling demographic change, and insulting Assamese heritage over decades of misrule. Upadhyay criticized Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, branding them as “political tourists” who, according to him, have little understanding or concern for Assam or the Northeast.” he said.
Referring to the Bharat Ratna awarded to Assam’s cultural icon Bhupen Hazarika, Upadhyay alleged that Congress leaders mocked the honour. “How can a party that insulted Bhupen Hazarika be considered a friend of the Assamese people?” he questioned.
He further accused Congress of historically working against indigenous communities under the guise of appeasing religious minorities. “Despite ruling for over 70 years, Congress couldn’t even provide land rights (pattas) to the indigenous Assamese. Now they talk about pattas—it’s a mockery,” he remarked.
Citing land encroachments, Upadhyay claimed that over 15,000 bighas of land belonging to Xatras were occupied by what he termed “illegal Bangladeshi Muslims” during Congress rule. He added that a shocking 63,58,779 bighas of land were encroached upon across Assam under successive Congress governments.
Upadhyay accused Congress of orchestrating demographic changes across the state, stating, “From Dhubri to Lakhimpur to Uriamghat in Golaghat, constituency after constituency is falling into the hands of illegal Bangladeshi settlers.” He highlighted the rise in the number of Bengali-speaking Muslim MLAs from 21 in 2001 to 31 in 2021 as evidence of this shift.
In a grave allegation, he reminded the public of the murder of young Xatradhikar Devendranath Goswami of the Adi Elengi Xatra, reportedly by illegal settlers. “After gifting such disasters to Assam, when will the Congress party apologize to the people?” he demanded.
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