“I proudly say that the Hindu community in Assam did not do politics of appeasement.
If someone commits communalism in Assam, one community does it, one religion does it, and no other religion commits communalism there.
The NDA won 11 of the 14 seats in Assam in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, while the INDIA bloc, led by the Congress, won the other three seats.
Sarma also accused the political loyalty of the minority community of Assam and said, “Earlier, their contract was with (All India United Democratic Front founder) Badruddin Ajmal.
This was the first time an alliance came close to 50 per cent of the vote share in the state.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said Hindus do not indulge in communalism in the state and accused the minority community of voting for the Congress in large numbers in Lok Sabha elections 2024 despite the development work done by his BJP government.
“I proudly say that the Hindu community in Assam did not do politics of appeasement. Hindus have voted on merit. But a particular community has done such tactical voting that no matter how much development has taken place in their area, the community has given its 100 per cent vote to the Congress,” said Sarma at a felicitation event of victorious MPs of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Guwahati.
“One thing this election proved is that Hindus do not indulge in communalism. If someone commits communalism in Assam, one community does it, one religion does it, and no other religion commits communalism there. This election is proof of that,” said Sharma.
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“Someone is contesting against Sarbananda Sonowal ji; someone is contesting against Bijuli Kalita Medhi, and someone is contesting against Dilip Saikia. The people of Assam have voted for us based on merit, hope, aspiration and within the complaint of scarcity, they also voted for the party that was against us,” Sarma added.
The NDA won 11 of the 14 seats in Assam in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, while the INDIA bloc, led by the Congress, won the other three seats.
Piling the heat on the Congress for its policies while it was in power in Assam until 2016, when the BJP won the largest Northeast state, Sarma, who switched over to the BJP from the Congress in 2015, said, “During the Congress days, the minority community was living in misery due to poverty. In the minority areas, there was not a single road, no electricity, no thought of increasing prices.”
“No matter what the officials have been doing, the minority vote for the Congress, and this time, they also showered them with their votes,” he added.
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He said the BJP missed out on votes because it stood up for Hindu society. “We, the people of Assam, should learn that the BJP has been called communal for so long. The BJP can say that if we stand somewhere for the Hindu society, if we stand somewhere for the Assamese society, if we stand for the people of the Indigenous state, we have not got 100 votes out of 100 votes.”
He also mentioned that none of the BJP MPs won by a 10-12 lakh vote margin. “If we look at the polling stations of minority people of Bangladeshi origin in Assam, excluding Karimganj, out of 100 votes, 99 were received by the Congress.”
Sarma did not specify the specific places where people of Bangladeshi origin reside within Assam. However, the issue of foreigners residing in Assam has been a highly debated and contentious topic. This led to a revision of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which revealed that 19.06 lakh people did not make it into the revised draft released in 2019.
Sarma also accused the political loyalty of the minority community of Assam and said, “Earlier, their contract was with (All India United Democratic Front founder) Badruddin Ajmal. Now the contract has been transferred to (Congress leader) Rakibul Hussain. Only the contract was changed, but not the team. The idea of communalist thought has not changed.” Hussain defeated Ajmal by a record margin of 10,12,476 votes in the Dhubri Lok Sabha constituency.
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Sarma criticised the Congress, saying that the party’s win in three seats in Assam had led to arrogance as if it had won the entire election. “Let me remind them that after 40 years, a ruling party has won 11 seats in Assam and we humbly accept this mandate,” said Sarma.
He said the NDA made history by leading in 92 of the 126 Assembly segments in Assam. This was the first time an alliance came close to 50 per cent of the vote share in the state. “NDA constituents have secured 47 per cent vote share and with the blessings of the people, it will cross 50 per cent vote share in 2026 (Assembly poll),” he added.
