From Assam's New Chief Minister to Garukhuti Eviction Drive; Factors that Drove 2021 in Assam Politics

Assam in the last couple of years have been on war-footing and with the latest threat of Omicron, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) on Saturday announced the imposition of night curfew in the state.

Himanta Biswa Sarma, the face of the BJP in Northeast India, has been sworn in as the 15th Chief Minister of Assam. Dr. Sarma and the outgoing Chief Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal, met Governor Jagdish Mukhi on Sunday afternoon and put forward the BJP's claim to form the government.

An eviction drive in Sipajhar in Assam's Darrang district took a violent turn, leaving two dead and several injured after clashes broke out between the police and protesters. A horrifying video showed a protester armed with a lathi being shot by a policeman, then jumped on and stomped on by a civilian. Meanhwhile, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has also instituted a judicial probe into the deaths, and the civilian has been arrested.

At least one person died and several passengers went missing after a private boat capsized in the Brahmaputra river near Nimati Ghat in Assam's Jorhat following a head-on collision with a ferry on Wednesday. A woman died in hospital after she was rescued from the river.

The BJP-led ruling coalition clean swept the bye-poll in five LACs (Legislative Assembly Constituencies) in the State. The Election Commission declared bye-poll results today. What is significant in the bye-poll results is that the candidates won with huge margins. With this win, the ruling alliance gained its strength in the state Assembly.

Social media has been abuzz with the success of Assam in dealing with the drugs menace in recent days. The Assam Police has launched an all-out offensive on drugs. Over thousands of people, including women drug traffickers, have been arrested across the state and narcotics worth crores of rupees seized from them while a few also shot at in encounter.

The Assam government has amended a section Assam Cattle Preservation Bill, 2021 to allow transportation of cattle from one district to another, which was barred earlier, informed Ashok Singhal, State Cabinet Minister.

Sherman Ali Ahmed, a Baghbor legislator, said that the Congress party had asked him that if he wished his suspension from the Congress lifted, he needed to cease speaking about minority concerns. Sherman Ali, a member of Congress, was reportedly suspended for allegedly making "communal and inflammatory" statements. He was also detained for the same reason and is now out on bail. Sherman Ali now claims that Congress imposed some requirements in order to lift his ban.