Assam Congress state chief Bhupen Kumar Borah sharply criticized Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday, accusing him of engaging in divisive ‘Hindu-Muslim politics.’ Borah asserted that the people of Assam are uninterested in the BJP’s communal agenda. During a press interaction, Borah highlighted the unity of the opposition, comprising 18 parties, which plans to maintain their alliance through the 2026 assembly elections and contest every election as a united front for the next two years.
“The CM engages only in Hindu-Muslim politics. However, the people of Assam are not at all interested in such a communal agenda, which was proven during the Lok Sabha elections,” Borah stated. This criticism follows Sarma’s announcement on Sunday about the forthcoming introduction of a law for life imprisonment in cases of ‘love jihad’ and other measures to protect the land rights and government jobs of indigenous people from a ‘particular community.’
Borah alleged that Sarma’s statements were intended to communalize issues that should be legislated and discussed in the assembly. “For any land policy, a law should be brought in the assembly and then it should be discussed. Instead of that, the CM was giving a statement to communalise the issue,” Borah alleged. The Congress state chief also criticized Sarma’s economic policies, claiming they are flawed and overly reliant on beneficiary schemes. “The present government is using the media and the state publicity machinery to propagate the CM’s communal ideas. The government’s earnings are mostly dependent on liquor sales nowadays. It is giving 2,000 liquor shop licenses to their local leaders in villages,” he claimed.
