GOALPARA/GUWAHATI, June 6: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday claimed that the Lok Sabha election results in Nagaon and Dhubri seats pointed to the fact that the foundation of the state’s social fabric was very weak.
Congress MLA Rakibul Hussain won the Dhubri seat by a record margin of over 10 lakh votes, while party MP Pradyut Bordoloi emerged victorious in Nagaon by 2,12,231 votes.
“The dangerous election results of Nagaon and Dhubri have again proved that the foundation of the social fabric of Assam is very weak… Rakibul Hussain won by over 10 lakh votes. What does this signify? It shows the danger in front of our society and ‘jatiya jibon’ (national life),” Sarma told reporters here.
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“…You think about leading by over 10 lakh votes and not a single Hindu voted there; so how much is the danger in front of our social fabric?… This 10 lakh will become 12 lakh in next 10 years with 29 per cent growth of Muslim population,” he added.
Sarma also claimed that Bordoloi, too, won from Nagaon with leads from Muslim-majority assembly segments in the seat, while the BJP took leads in all the Hindu-dominated legislative constituencies.
“Laharighat, Dhing, Rupahi and Samaguri (all Muslim-dominated seats) have made Congress victorious by 2-2.5 lakh margin (in Nagaon). So, if there is not some kind of resistance, the situation of Assam will be very dangerous,” he added.
Hussain defeated sitting MP and AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal with an emphatic margin of 10,12,476 votes. The Congress leader polled 14,71,885 votes and the AIUDF chief managed 4,59,409 votes.
“Ajmal could never win by 10 lakh votes. Rakibul Hussain winning by 10 lakh votes is a warning of a thunderbolt for our society, especially Lower, Middle and North Assam although it may be good news for the Congress. Nobody wins by such a margin even though it may be a good thing for him personally,” Sarma said.
“Those who feel insecure in Dhubri constituency after the outcome of the result, we are with them… If there is no challenge from the BJP or people with nationalistic fervour, Assam will be washed away and nobody will survive,” he claimed.
Addressing a press conference in Guwahati later during the day, the chief minister stressed that Ajmal and Hussain were only symbolic as Muslims voted in one pattern across the state.
“Earlier AIUDF and Congress both used to get Muslim votes, but this time all votes shifted to the Congress. With around 90 per cent of polled votes of Muslims in Nagaon, Barpeta and Dhubri going to Congress, it has become a Muslim party,” he added.
The people from the Muslim community got all the benefits of different welfare schemes, but development was not on their agenda when they voted, Sarma alleged.
He estimated that Muslims constitute about 40 percent of Assam’s total population at present and they have become “completely polarised” towards one party.
“Due to Dhubri and Nagaon, Congress will not be zero in Assam for the next 100 years,” he added.
According to the 2011 Census, Assam had a total Muslim population of 1.07 crore, making up 34.22 per cent of the total 3.12 crore residents of the state. There were 1.92 crore Hindus in the state, around 61.47 percent of the total population.
The CM, however, said there was “nothing worrying” about the victory of another Congress candidate and sitting MP Gaurav Gogoi from Jorhat as he is “our own” and there was nothing communal about it.
“Today if the Hindu society votes in only one side, people allege that Hindus have done communalism. This election clearly proved that Hindus are not communal and there is a need to fight against communalism in the Muslim society,” he added.
Stating that someone will win and someone will lose in elections, Sarma said that changes in demography in Lower, Middle and North Assam have become “very dangerous”.
“Every time after elections, people calculate what BJP, AGP or Congress won. But my calculations don’t stop there. I believe that this election again reminded me of the impending danger in front of Assam’s future,” he added.
The CM also gave an example of Guwahati Lok Sabha constituency and claimed that out of 6,43,797 votes of the losing Congress candidate Mira Borthakur Goswami, around 2.2 lakh votes came from Muslim-majority areas of Kamrup district.
“In Dalgaon constituency, Congress took a lead of 1.8 lakh votes. In Paka Betbari, Congress took a lead of 1.3-1.5 lakh votes. So, where is communalism? Who does communalism? If you go to a polling booth in a Hindu-dominated area, the votes are divided between BJP, Congress and AGP,” he claimed.
The Assam CM claimed that the BJP-led NDA took a lead in 93 assembly seats, that too by huge margins, and it has never happened for any party in Assam.
“In Guwahati, BJP and Congress both got votes. Jorhat proved that Assamese people are not communal, Hindus are not communal. Today, Congress won from a Hindu-dominated constituency, but has BJP won from a Muslim-majority seat?” he asked.
Sarma, however, said BJP won from Karimganj as sitting MP Kripanath Mallah managed to retain his seat by just 18,360 votes with many Muslims voting for BJP due to some local issues with the Congress candidate Hafiz Rashid Ahmed Choudhury. (PTI)
