HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, Jan 25: The Assam unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday launched a sharp attack on Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi, accusing him of adopting appeasement politics and deliberately refusing to acknowledge chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in an attempt to court a particular vote bank ahead of the Assembly elections.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP state headquarters, Vajpayee Bhawan, senior party spokesperson Brajen Mahanta said the Congress in Assam had lost political direction, public credibility and substantive issues, and was entering the electoral battle in what he described as a state of “intellectual bankruptcy”.
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He alleged that after suffering repeated electoral defeats, the opposition had fallen back on accusations of vote theft and EVM manipulation as a convenient excuse.
Mahanta said similar allegations were raised by the Congress in recent elections outside Assam as well, but were rejected by voters who, he claimed, delivered clear mandates in favour of the BJP.
He asserted that the opposition had already accepted its impending defeat in Assam and was now resorting to what he termed a campaign of misinformation and personal attacks against the BJP and chief minister Sarma.
Targeting Gaurav Gogoi, the BJP spokesperson alleged that the Congress leader was attempting to project himself as a proponent of a “Greater Assam” while simultaneously aligning with individuals and organisations that, according to the BJP, have demanded reservation of Assembly seats for the Miyas. Mahanta said Gogoi’s refusal to recognise the role and leadership of Himanta Biswa Sarma was politically motivated and aimed at appeasing a specific constituency.
Mahanta further alleged that Gogoi was choosing to associate with leaders and organisations that had historically opposed the Assam Movement, instead of standing with indigenous communities of the state.
He claimed that such associations stood in contrast to the BJP’s narrative of safeguarding indigenous interests and cultural identity.
Highlighting the chief minister’s work, Mahanta said Sarma had played a decisive role in ending 15 years of Congress rule in Assam and in forming an NDA government in the state.
He credited the chief minister with undertaking eviction drives against illegal encroachments, initiating development projects at religious and cultural sites such as Bordowa Than, providing over 1.5 lakh government jobs through what he described as a transparent, merit-based process, and constructing a Shaheed Smarak to honour martyrs of the Assam Movement.
The BJP spokesperson also referred to Sarma’s recent international engagements, stating that despite extensive travel abroad, including to Davos, the chief minister returned immediately to attend to governance and public service in Assam.
Mahanta claimed that Gogoi’s alleged refusal to acknowledge Sarma’s leadership and achievements was a deliberate political strategy rooted in appeasement.
“Denying the identity and contribution of the Chief Minister is nothing but an attempt to please a particular section,” he said.
Another BJP spokesperson, Pranjal Kalita, was also present at the press conference.
