By Our Correspondent
Guwahati, Feb 24,
As the anti-citizenship amendment bill row in Assam is temporarily settled, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) starts expecting more seats in the forthcoming general election. When the State’s Brahmaputra valley was almost boiling over the proposed citizenship bill, the saffron party was trying to maintain their existing seven seats.
However, the bill row had suddenly defused as the BJP led government could not table it in Rajya Sabha on 13 February putting the initiative to almost die naturally and taking advantage of the situation, the BJP has hoped to gain at least three extra Lok Sabha seats namely Silchar, Barpeta and Kaliabor, which are now the possession of the Congress and AIUDF.
Addressing a rally in eastern Assam recently, Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal in presence of BJP’s in-charge Mahendra Singh and State finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, argued that people of the region have accepted the saffron party as their own. After years of Congress’s misrule, the BJP has shown the region a ray of hope, claimed Sonowal.
“People will vote for BJP for good governance. We will win with a thumping majority and form the government at the Centre for a second term under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Our party believes in the mantra of collective efforts and inclusive growth (Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas) for the progress of the nation,” added the young chief minister.
He also narrated the performance of the BJP led government in Dispur that came to power in 2016 saying that it has given land pattas (document) to landless people ( over 11,700 families) and small tea
growers of Assam, which was never done by the Congress in seven decades.
“Moreover, we made Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) corruption-free and transparent. Earlier the Congress government was involved in corruption in the APSC exams. During our tenure, we have
given appointment to 55,000 people in a completely transparent process,” asserted Sonowal.
Meanwhile, an anti-influx body named Prabrajan Virodhi Manch (PVM) has been actively considering to join the electoral politics and proposing to put their leader Upamanyu Hazarika as a candidate from Guwahati Parliamentary constituency, which is presently under BJP’s possession.
“For more than six years, we have been fighting for the cause of the protection and identity of the indigenous people, we are now making our entry into electoral politics in the ensuing Lok Sabha polls,”
said a media statement of the forum. It had repeatedly urged the government to enact a legislation protecting land rights for the indigenous people of Assam.
