Rakibul Hussain Used Beef Distribution Tactics To Secure Votes In Samaguri For 25 Years, Alleges Assam CM

GUWAHATI: Congress MP Rakibul Hussain was the target of a scathing criticism by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who accused him of employing questionable strategies to win elections in the Samaguri seat. Hussain, a former Samaguri MLA, allegedly used the distribution of beef to voters as part of his election strategy for 25 years, according to CM Sarma.

"There is nothing new about people from the Muslim community eating beef. What we are saying is not to eat it in public places like hotels or restaurants," the Assam CM said while speaking at a public gathering.

"Rakibul Hussain is now saying that in Samaguri, Muslims ate beef. How can I inquire who ate or didn’t? That is for Rakibul Hussain to answer. If they hadn’t eaten beef earlier and only ate it during by-elections, then he would know better," CM Sarma added.

The Chief Minister also claimed that Hussain's electoral victory stemmed from this tactic, implying that the Congress MP himself had made this revelation inadvertently.

"In the last 25 years, he won, his father won. That means they were winning by distributing beef, and now I have shut that shop," he further added.

However, Rakibul Hussain has not addressed the accusations. The remarks have drawn sharp reactions across Assam, further intensifying the already charged political atmosphere in the state as it prepares for the upcoming assembly elections in 2026.

Recently, some of the Assam Congress's top leaders were not happy with the direction the party had taken since losing its bastion of Samaguri in the most recent by-elections.

Rakibul Hussain, a senior Congress leader and five-time Samaguri MLA who also won the seat in the 2021 Assembly elections, had been claiming that the BJP won the Muslim-majority seat by appealing to voters "with beef."

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