Letters to THE EDITOR: Modism in Assam: Welfare, narratives and the 2026 election

In 2026, among Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and other states, Assam is also going to face Assembly elections. Here, the ruling BJP party and the opposition parties are trying to create some narratives to win the elections and come to power. From the BJP, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, has been coming to Assam frequently these days and trying to create narratives in favour of their ruling party. But now the question is: will Modism be successful in the Assam Assembly election by coming to power for a third consecutive term for the BJP government in Assam? The frequency of beneficiary schemes has increased during these times under the Himanta Biswa Sarma government, and the opposition has failed to overcome this issue of beneficiaries, which may contribute to the BJP's chances of winning the Assam Assembly election. The probability of an economic crisis may be overshadowed by the extreme campaign of the BJP government. Will the growing influence of Prime Minister Modi be successful in this matter?

Basically, it will be challenging because the opposition is also trying to rectify its mistakes and consolidate the votes of Upper Assam, the main Hindu belt voters in Assam, thereby projecting their main leader, Gaurav Gogoi, in the Jorhat Assembly constituency. But the hyper-controversial opposition alliance between the Indian National Congress and Raijor Dal is an illusion, and because of this fragmented version of the opposition alliance, it will be very challenging for the opposition to overcome the magnificent boost of challenge from the BJP in the Assam Assembly election. Let's see what will happen.

Sankalpajit Saikia

Nagaon University

Height of secularism?

The much-talked-about cricket extravaganza, the T20 World Cup, was successfully hosted jointly by India and Sri Lanka despite some protests from Pakistan and Bangladesh. Our Men in Blue, for the second consecutive time, became the proud winner, creating many world records, proving once again that ‘East or West, India is the best’. The whole nation is proud of these boys in blue as they simply outplayed the Kiwis in a lopsided final played at Ahmedabad.

Very amusingly, it did not go well with one lesser-known former Indian cricketer, named Kriti Azad, known for his off-the-field activities rather than on-field performances, who objected to Indian skipper Surya Kumar Yadav visiting a Lord Ganesha temple with the coveted T20 trophy. Kirti Azad, as we know, is an MP of TMC, a political, super-secular party known for its ‘anti-national’ stance. Kirti Azad’s protest simply exposes the height of Indian secularism, as the said politician is trying to derive media attention to please his party supremo and their supporters. Such people have a habit of creating a mountain out of a molehill. Secularism in India simply means appeasement of a particular religion.

Dr Ashim Chowdhury,

Guwahati.

Dreaming must be meaningful

During the interaction with this year's board examinees as part of the 'Pariksha pe Charcha', PM Narendra Modi said that dreaming can never be a crime for the 'exam warriors', but it should always be supported by action, balance and continuous learning like 'real soldiers'. In Sunday's editorial, "Not Dreaming Is a Crime," it has been rightly pointed out that parents and teachers together ought to play a pivotal role in helping students turn their dreams into actionable, long-term goals. It has become necessary now to transform their routine work into a purposeful and fulfilling path. Teachers in particular should therefore be able to observe and motivate individual students according to the latter's capabilities and try to remove the obstacles along the way by maintaining daily discipline. At the same time, students need to learn both life skills and professional skills through learning, as the wonder of books will be their steadfast teachers, guides, companions and trusted friends throughout their lives. It can be best said that India's dream of becoming a 'Viswa-guru' occupying a respectable position among the top five global superpowers entirely depends on teachers and elders who have to think outside the laid-out box and guide the students on the sure success road to help the country achieve the long-desired goal.

Iqbal Saikia,

Guwahati.

Man-leopard conflict

Maharashtra has the second-highest leopard population in the country after Madhya Pradesh. Due to the increasing leopard population and rise in attacks on human settlements, not to mention the resultant human-leopard conflicts, the Maharashtra government has decided to move the big cats from Schedule 1 to Schedule 2 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and is awaiting the nod from the Central Wildlife Department for final action. Once this is done, individuals killing the animal in self-defence will not be penalised or punished.

But the government cannot waver in its endeavour to protect leopards by augmenting the rescue efforts of straying big cats, like providing more vehicles and cages. More and more sanctuaries and water bodies have to be provided for the leopards. Landscape fragmentation, electrocution and poaching should be arrested. Since people are directly responsible for encroaching on the territories of leopards, a fine balance has to be struck between human development and the preservation of leopard habitats to ensure their survival.

 Dr Ganapathi Bhat

(gbhat13@gmail.com)